MHD June 2022

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JUNE 2022

COVER STORY

AUTOMATION AND OPTIMISATION Dematic introduces a new paradigm

ACHIEVING OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE

Prological on making the most of automation investment

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Fuzzy LogX on delivering sustainable solutions for warehousing

LEVERAGING THE DIGITAL ERA

Körber Supply Chain on its global benchmarking survey

Körber’s 2022 benchmarking report

Discover key factors shaping supply chain complexity

Download now

koerber-supplychain.com

MHD FROM THE EDITOR

MHD Supply Chain Solutions CONTACT MHD Supply Chain Solutions is published by Prime Creative Media 11-15 Buckhurst Street, South Melbourne VIC 3205 Telephone: (+61) 03 9690 8766 Website: www.primecreative.com.au

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HALFWAY THROUGH 2022

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uch has been the energy out of the gates as COVID-restrictions recede into memory, this year seems to have reached the halfway mark in near record time. The flurry of activity in our industry – and the return of conferences, tradeshows, in-person meetings – has barely left us time to catch our breath.

In May, I attended AUSPACK2022 in Melbourne and saw Toyota AGVs in action, as well as Diverseco’s Cobot palletising solution (profiled in this issue). By the time this issue of MHD hits the stands, I will also have attended the Australian Logistics Council’s Forum 2022 in Sydney – which promises to collect leaders of industry and experts to discuss pressing issues, facilitate new contacts, and look forward to how our industry can thrive throughout the second half of the year.

Looking forward is a key theme in this edition of MHD Supply Chain Solutions. Our cover story discusses Dematic’s new paradigm for automation through optimisation. In fact, Dematic has released a new eBook, Automation Strategies for Distribution Success, dedicated to this very theme (read the cover story to learn more).

Also explored in this issue are the results of Körber Supply Chain’s Supply Chain Benchmarking 2022 report, which reveals global perspectives on supply chain complexity and performance. More than 200 organisations and 500 employees from throughout the world responded to the survey and revealed that while awareness of the external factors driving supply chain complexity was high, there is room for improvement in implementing measures to increase customer satisfaction, labour efficiency and process automation.

It seems that companies individually – and the industry generally – are taking stock of where they are now the better to serve the future.

Things are certainly picking up pace again, and with MEGATRANS 2022 only a few months away – and numerous other events in store – you’ll doubtless be running into the MHD team in person before long.

Edward Cranswick Editor edward.cranswick@primecreative.com.au

MHD Supply Chain

MHD JUNE 2022 | 3

JUNE 2022

ISSUE #16 VOLUME 52

THIS ISSUE COVER STORY

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10 Dematic on optimisation through automation post-COVID

SUPPLY CHAIN 34 Körber’s global benchmarking survey 37 Mettler Toledo on weighing loads and costs

INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

COVER STORY

17 Leedwell on Adelaide North’s in- demand assets

34

32 Stockland on emerging trends

MATERIALS HANDLING 14 Combilift Aisle-Master in action 23 Diverseco and the Cobot 43 The latest from Toyota Material Handling Australia

WAREHOUSING 20 Charter Hall delivering for Munro Footwear Group 26 Fuzzy LogX on a sustainable future 29 Tracking products with multi-code readers 40 Automation for all seasons with OPEX

DEPARTMENTS AND REGULARS 46 Colliers Property Focus 49 Prological’s Logical Outlook

ON THE COVER

52 SCLAA

Dematic on automation optimisation strategy in the post-COVID era

54 ASCI

43

56 Women in Industry 61 Product Showcase 62 People on the Move MHD JUNE 2022 | 5

MHD NEWS

Multi-storey warehouses coming to Sydney

A

ccording to CBRE, more than 350,000 sqms of multi-storey warehouse space is expected to be developed in Sydney over the next five years as availability of zoned land shrinks.

The Rise of Multi-Storey Warehousing report from the real estate and investment firm says there are 14 notable multi-storey projects in the pipeline for Australia’s largest city, including a 172,702 sqms LOGOS development at Masco due to open in late 2026.

CBRE says other significant projects include a 51,664 sqms, three-level Goodman warehouse in St Peters, which is expected to be ready in the first quarter of 2024.

“With vacancy close to zero per cent, rents skyrocketing northwards, and land prices doing the same, multistorey has never made more sense in Sydney than it does right now,” Cameron Grier, CBRE Regional Director, Industrial & Logistics, says.

“That said, developers still need to ensure design functionality to ensure these developments are fit for purpose for the Australian market,” he adds.

The report also notes the significant influence that high land values, low vacancy rates and minimal new land supply is having on the Sydney industrial and logistics market, where vacancy has hit an all-time low of 0.4 per cent – the tightest in the country.

CBRE says the average super prime net face rent is expected to maintain doubledigit annual growth between 2022-2026 with rents above 12 per cent per annum expected to occur in South Sydney whose market accounts for 80 per cent of the city’s multi-storey projects.

“Cities such as Hong Kong, Shanghai and Tokyo have built vertical warehouses in order to keep up with occupier demand for precincts with extremely limited space available,” Sass J-Baleh, CBRE’s Head of Industrial & Logistics Research, says.

“Sydney is following that trend, with dwindling industrial land supply in precincts that are becoming more sought

6 | MHD JUNE 2022

The CBRE report states that South Sydney has the highest land values in the country, averaging $2850/sqms for 1.6 ha lots, which the company says is justifying multi-storey construction costs.

after as ‘last mile’ distribution hubs due to recent and forecast growth in e-commerce,” she adds.

“This is particularly the case in South Sydney, which has strong access to the Port of Botany, airport, and the CBD but accounts for only 2.5 per cent of Sydney’s total supply of undeveloped zoned land.”

The CBRE report states that South Sydney has the highest land values in the country, averaging $2850/sqms for 1.6 ha lots, which the company says is justifying multi-storey construction costs.

It adds that South Sydney also has the highest rents in the country, averaging $225/sqms for super prime grade assets.

“As the Sydney market continues

to experience unprecedented levels of growth, we expect multistorey facilities will become an intrinsic part of Sydney’s industrial landscape,” Sass says.

“The significant increase in construction costs associated with multi-storey warehouses are offset in precincts such as South Sydney, given land availability and the desire to be located close to the consumer to minimise supply chain costs as e-commerce accelerates,” she adds.

“As land values appreciate across the city, we also expect to see an increase in multi-storey warehousing in outer precincts such as the Outer North West and the Outer South West in the medium to long term.”

Getting More With Less at Siemens 4 times the storage capacity, 3 times the picking performance with AutoStore™

At its plant in Chemnitz, Germany, Siemens manufactures advanced electrical equipment as well as assemblies and devices for machine and plant manufacturers worldwide. To improve on its previous manual shelf storage system for small parts which had reached its capacity, Siemens switched to an AutoStore goods-to-person picking system from Dematic.

With 34 AutoStore robots, five picking ports, and storing 45,000 segmented bins in an overall footprint of just 760 square metres, the AutoStore system holds four times more stock in the same space, and Siemens can now handle more orders, more accurately, in less time.

Read more and see it in action at www.dematic.com/siemens

Scan to watch the video!

Dematic.com/siemens 02 9486 5555 info.anz@dematic.com

MHD NEWS

Sydney tenants needing to plan years ahead

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olliers says tenants in Sydney’s southwest industrial market will be forced to plan one-to-three years ahead at a minimum due to the extreme lack of land vacancies.

It notes with restricted supplies and high demands, almost 75 per cent of tenants searching for space are not securing a spot in the region.

“In the last six months, we recorded a total demand area of 1,674, 700 sqm with over 650,000 sqm searching specifically in southwest Sydney,” Fab Dalfonso, Colliers National Director of Industrial, says.

“This means of the close to 174,000 sqm that we have leased, most of the market or around 74 per cent, is missing out,” he adds.

“As a result of this, we could see rental growth of up to 20 per cent as well as reduced incentives.”

Colliers says lease renewals previously within the market, which stretches from Padstow in the inner southwest out to Smeaton Grange in outer southwest Sydney and Badgerys Creek were tracking around 65 per cent.

Fab and Adrian Balderston, Director of Industrial say this has now jumped to 90 per cent on the back of supply issues and unprecedented demand.

The investment management company adds having many offmarket deals means the supply of 5000 sqm plus warehouses coming to market in the region is less than three per cent.

This means while there are buildings with leases expiring, supply is significantly low.

“We are currently working with a tenant who may shortly have no home to accommodate their business as their existing building has been leased, and they are facing a complex situation finding temporary accommodation whilst their pre-leased building in southwest Sydney is due for completion in early 2023,” Adrian says.

“They began their search for a new facility six months prior to their current lease ending, and we suggest the timeframe for obtaining new premises now needs to be around 12-36 months as a minimum to avoid this scenario,” he adds.

Colliers notes of all the enquiries received, 95 per cent require an existing facility or completion within six to nine months, with the remaining five per cent looking for pre-leases as they require major changes to suit their needs.

It adds tenants seeking greater incentives should consider prelease options as the average difference between spec and pre-lease incentives is around 10 per cent.

It also says lessors are often granting incentives close to 10 per cent to occupants who are seeking pre-lease opportunities and have time to plan their movements.

“The pre-lease market is now becoming the most active portion of the industrial sector,” Fab says.

“Incentives are tightening with rates on the increase leading to tenants adjusting their business operations and deliverables to suit the evolving market.”

8 | MHD JUNE 2022

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MHD COVER STORY

OPTIMISATION THROUGH AUTOMATION: A NEW PARADIGM Dematic has refreshed its approach to optimisation through automation.

MHD talks with Dematic’s Pas Tomasiello, Senior Regional Director – Sales & Solutions Development APAC, and Philip Makowski, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific, about the imperatives for automation – and new strategies for distribution success.

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he name ‘Dematic’ is by this point almost a byword for intelligent automated solutions in the supply chain domain. But, as Pas Tomasiello, Senior Regional Director – Sales & Solutions Development at Dematic APAC, notes – to continue offering the best in automation solutions, Dematic must always renew its own development strategies as well as continue engaging with, educating, and learning from the market.

In other words, new times demand new approaches.

In keeping with this notion, Dematic recently released a new eBook, Automation Strategies for Distribution Success, a deep dive into what it means today to optimise for distribution, the primary imperatives that demand optimisation, and the extensive portfolio of solutions Dematic offers customers and would-be customers regardless of what stage they are at in their respective 10 | MHD JUNE 2022

Sigma Healthcare turned to automation to help improve service levels in the face of increasing competition.

MHD COVER STORY

At its small parts warehouse, Siemens has been able to get more out of the space with an Autostore small item picking solution.

business and technology journeys.

“This eBook is the crystallisation of an effort we have recently made at Dematic to refresh our go-to-market strategies for optimisation and to educate customers on the meaning and necessity of optimisation today – and how Dematic can best help them,” Pas says.

More than a decade ago, Dematic devised 10 key strategies for optimisation through automation. That set of strategies has served Dematic and its customers well, says Pas, but the strategies themselves needed to be optimised to account for the realities of 2022 and the learnings of recent times.

“Back then, we came up with 10 strategies that really represented a journey for our customers to go from entry levels of automation right through to full automation,” Pas says. “The way we framed it back then was in terms of incremental steps along a journey.

“This time around, we have made a conscious attempt to remove the notion of automation optimisation as a ‘journey’.

Assessing the realities of supply chain and distribution today, we no longer think that the idea of a journey – starting small and building higher and higher up – is fit for purpose. The message we’re conveying now is you can start at any point along that journey – and it’s not a one-way path. Today, you can achieve distinct high automation goals by taking on any combination of the solutions Dematic offers.

“It’s no longer the case that you must start by introducing a tiny little bit of technology, and then start adding conveyors, then adding stations, then moving on to full automation.

What we are telling customers now is that wherever you are in your journey – we’ll meet you there to tailor the solution you need.”

A PARADIGM SHIFT

“

It’s no longer the case that you must start by introducing a tiny little bit of technology, and then start adding conveyors, then adding stations, then moving on to full automation. What we are telling customers now is that wherever you are in your journey – we’ll meet you there to tailor the solution you need.

”

Pas says the eBook is addressed to new challenges in the logistics and supply chain sector; chiefly: labour availability, changing consumer demand patterns, cost of land pressures, and the ramifications of COVID and the post-COVID era.

“There is a greater sensitivity to the notion that the future is unknown, which is more prominent now than it was pre-COVID,” he says. “Thus, we want to help build resilience and agility into the supply chain.

Our customers need help, and they need to know where to take their supply chain and distribution. So, in comes Dematic: Here’s what we’ve got. Talk to us.”

Philip Makowski, Marketing Director, Asia Pacific at Dematic, adds that the release of this eBook was also motivated by the increasing availability of new technologies – especially in the goods-to-person space.

“Where once it was necessary to add on layers of automation technology – you couldn’t just install a very sophisticated system right off the bat – now we have customers who are introducing an AutoStore, Multishuttle or Pallet Automated Storage and Retrieval systems as their first step,” Philip says. “That wasn’t always possible.”

Pas says that in supply chain terms COVID inaugurated a new era of thinking. “There was B.C. – before COVID – and after COVID,” he says. “Before COVID everything was ROIbased; it was all about presenting a business case where everything was accounted for and there was a tangible ROI that could be financially modelled.”

He says that after COVID the “intangibles” of supply chain thinking have come dramatically to the fore.

MHD JUNE 2022 | 11

MHD COVER STORY

“It introduced measures of return that previously were in the ‘intangibles’ bucket,” Pas says. “It’s no longer just about ROIs and financial returns.

Now it’s about the intangibles: building resilience and agility into your supply chain; being adaptable to the unknowns of the future. For me, the imperative to optimise through automation arises from a paradigm shift away from traditional financial modelling and towards a paradigm that puts greater emphasis on preparedness for uncertainty.”

FOUR IMPERATIVES TO OPTIMISE Dematic’s new strategic perspective for its customers – explored in its new eBook – outlines four primary imperatives that necessitate optimisation with automation: 1. Consumer demands; 2. Labour costs and availability; 3. Rising cost of space; and 4. Dealing with volatility.

higher quality and faster delivery.

“And if you mess up an order or it’s late then you’re very likely to lose that customer for good.”

Philip believes we have entered the world of the “empowered consumer” – not only because consumer expectations have risen sharply, but because the range of alternatives is greatly expanded, and there are myriad forms of data available to consumers and accessible at their fingertips.

“Now consumers can ask a series of questions and easily compare and contrast performance with competing offerings,” Philip says. “Who has the best price? Who will get me the product first? Who provides free shipping? Who has the best returns policy? Which vendors make the fewest mistakes?

The empowered consumer is more demanding than ever – so to compete in supply chain you need to meet those demands. You need to step up, you need to optimise – and that can only be done through automation.”

CONSUMER DEMANDS

LABOUR COSTS AND AVAILABILITY

E-commerce has manifestly wrought great and rapid changes to consumer demands and behaviour. Put simply – Pas says consumers now demand

As Pas notes, a scarcity of labour drives up its cost. The ageing workforce is a “mega-trend” he says has been bearing down on Australia for at least a decade.

Automation has helped Bolloré Logistics reduce its footprint, increase productivity, and cater for omnichannel distribution.

12 | MHD JUNE 2022

“

Regardless of what market you’re in, regardless of what industry you’re in, regardless of your order profile, regardless of your customer demands – regardless of all that – Dematic can help with our broad portfolio of products, technology, and solutions.

The depth of our portfolio and breadth of experience mean we can help anyone in any industry – no matter their size, big or small.

”

And as the older generation exits the workforce, it is not being replaced by the newer generations, for whom working in a warehouse is often not an attractive proposition.

Both Pas and Philip believe that successful implementation of automation changes both the profile

MHD COVER STORY

of workers sought by employers and the attractiveness of warehouses for would-be employees. By freeing workers from more mundane routinised tasks, they can engage in more sophisticated work requiring higher order thinking – which means employers will seek intellectually adaptable workers who are at home with technology. Automated warehouses are more attractive workplaces as they move further away from manual labour and towards knowledge work.

With a tight labour market in supply chain and warehousing, optimising through automation means fewer workers are needed – which boosts resilience during seasonal or unexpected fluctuations. “Your problem is radically reduced if you only have to hire five people in a hurry for more attractive jobs versus 50 people for less attractive jobs,” as Pas neatly summarises it.

RISING COST OF SPACE With the demand for industrial real estate continuing to outstrip supply, automation is essential to optimising land’s productive value. Here as elsewhere, Philip says, automation allows you to get more out of less, with well-orchestrated automation reducing the size of the warehouse footprint.

This consideration is doubly important, he adds, when one considers that e-commerce requires swift delivery and despatch – i.e., a fulfilment centre or warehouse can’t afford to be too far from urban centres.

“Automation means you can optimise the use of every square foot of your facility,” Philip notes. “This means you can get more from less and build on smaller parcels of land that are closer to your customers. Proximity to key population centres means you can leapfrog your competitors, because your delivery window will be faster and smaller.”

DEALING WITH VOLATILITY Dematic’s new eBook explores the new conditions of volatility and uncertainty in the post-COVID era. Pas and Philip encourage MHD readers to explore its pages to discover various ways in which optimisation through automation can fortify warehouses and fulfilment operations against expected and unexpected shocks.

“In short, automation is unique in the sense that – unlike manual systems – you can easily deal with seasonal volatility,” Philip says. “If you’re hit with labour cost and/or availability issues, automation makes you more

resilient to that. If there are spikes in throughput, you’ll be able to deal with those periods much better because you’ll have more capacity and mobility to flex with an automated system.”

ENTERING AUTOMATION WITH DEMATIC Pas says Dematic is primed, postCOVID, to tackle any challenge with its portfolio of automation solutions.

“The entry point to automation has definitely shifted to a higher level,” he says. “Consider the primary categories in which optimisation can occur – processes, humans, inventory, and data. In the past automation was often thought of in a stepladder-like approach – starting at the lowest point and climbing higher with each successive step. That’s all in the past. Dematic is in perfect position to holistically assess an operation and isolate the best entry point for optimisation. No longer do you have to sort your data and your inventory before adding automation.

Now the entry point has shifted such that you can introduce automation at the same time as you deal with inventory and data management and personnel considerations.”

For Dematic, optimising with automation is more flexible and scalable than ever. Not only are there more points of entry, but lower barriers to entry, too. As Pas concludes: “Regardless of what market you’re in, regardless of what industry you’re in, regardless of your order profile, regardless of your customer demands – regardless of all that – Dematic can help with our broad portfolio of products, technology, and solutions.

The depth of our portfolio and breadth of experience mean we can help anyone in any industry – no matter their size, big or small.

“If there’s one key message I’d like readers to take away from this interview and our new eBook, it would be this: We can help you.

It’s that simple.” ■ To read Dematic’s new eBook, Automation Strategies for Distribution Success, use the following QR code.

MHD JUNE 2022 | 13

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

SAFER, QUICKER, EASIER: COMBILIFT’S AISLE MASTER

Irish vehicle multi-purpose vehicle manufacturer Multihog explores its use of Combilift electric Aisle Master forklifts – and why they’re ideal for Multihog’s own operation.

Narrow aisle capability was one of the main initial reasons Multihog chose the Aisle Master.

C

ombilift is not the only Irish manufacturer to enjoy success around the world with its engineering expertise and innovative products. Around 30 miles away from its HQ in Monaghan, Dundalk based Multihog designs and builds its range of multi-purpose vehicles, which it supplies to global customers including contractors, airports and municipalities.

Established 14 years ago, the company has enjoyed growing customer numbers, thanks to its concept of a one base vehicle that can be fitted with a wide array of attachments, front and rear, to carry out multiple tasks all year round, such as sweeping, snow clearing, grass mowing and pothole repair.

14 | MHD JUNE 2022

Multihog had been using an electric Aisle Master articulated forklift for four years for moving pallets of components from its warehousing area to the production facility, and due to expansion – yearly units number 350 and are growing – the company was looking for a second truck to cope with the increased volume of goods handled.

“Narrow aisle capability was one of the main initial reasons for choosing the Aisle Master, to make the most of the storage space we have available,” says Dallan McHugh, head of procurement and supply at Multihog.

“When we got in touch with Combilift about the second truck, we found out that they had just launched a new

version of the Aisle Master in the form of an order picker – the AME-OP. When we had a closer look at this it was obvious that this would be the perfect fit for Multihog.”

The AME-OP is a stand-on electric powered model that combines the advantages of a narrow aisle articulated forklift and an order picker for versatile operation. A main feature is the stepthrough operator compartment with a low floor height of just 280mm. This enables convenient single step access from both sides of the truck which speeds up order picking compared to the operator having to get in and out from a seated position.

It is available in a number of variants,

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

“ The AME-OP is a stand-on electric powered model that combines the advantages of a narrow aisle articulated forklift and an order picker for versatile operation. with lift capacities from 1500kg to 2500kg, lift heights of up to 12.1m, and can operate in aisles as narrow as 1650mm. The multifunctional programmable joy stick control lever in the operator compartment, which includes controls for the hydraulics and traction, is adjustable to enable comfortable and ergonomic working conditions for operators of all sizes.

“It wasn’t until the truck was on site and operational that we realised how much we actually needed it,” Dallan says.

“The number of parts that need to be

picked per kit can be 20 or 30 each, so with a conventional truck that means operators are climbing in and out of the cab 20 or 30 times – and that’s a pretty time consuming process. Stepping off and on the order picker either side from the low step is much easier, quicker, and safer. Operators in the stores also found the transition from the original Aisle Master to the Order Picker very easy, and they were fully up to speed with the controls within just one or two hours.

And when it’s not being used for order picking it has all the key advantages of

When we got in touch with Combilift about the second truck, we found out that they had just launched a new version of the Aisle Master in the form of an order picker – the AME-OP. When we had a closer look at this it was obvious that this would be the perfect fit for Multihog.

”

our original Aisle Master such as indoor/ outdoor operation for loading and offloading and for stock replenishment at other times. So it’s versatile – just like Multihog’s products!” ■ For more information on Combilift visit www.combilift.com For more information on Multihog visit www.multihog.com

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MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

ADELAIDE’S NORTH HOLDING SOUGHT-AFTER INDUSTRIAL ASSETS

Steve Smith, partner at real estate agency Leedwell speaks to MHD about Adelaide’s Vicinity Industrial Base where a large industrial building is up for grabs; the Northern Connector, a piece of infrastructure that’s closed the gap between the inner and outer northern markets; and the high demand for land in the city’s north where stock is low.

L

eedwell is managing the leasing of an existing building within Vicinity Industrial Base (VIB) in Adelaide’s north. Steve Smith is a partner at the company who has been front and centre of a significant increase in sales and leases across the South Australian capital city’s industrial market during the past two years.

ADELAIDE’S NEW INDUSTRIAL ESTATE Steve says the 2-8 Mirage Road facility in Adelaide’s Direk is the only property available in the city’s existing highquality industrial estate. It’s unique because it’s one of the only buildings of such quality and size that’s available in the whole Adelaide market.

He notes it presents as a modern office warehouse that is just under 7000 sqm and is situated on a 20,000 sqm site. Its current occupier is Toll who is due to relocate in September.

He adds the reasons why companies will gravitate towards the site are because they will be looking for a highquality facility with larger than normal hardstand provisions and other features including a weighbridge, recessed loading docks, high internal clearance, and a large awning over the loading and unloading areas.

“It has all the relevant operational items that allow logistics operators to just come in, turn the lights on, fill the warehouse up and start operating,” Steve says.

Steve adds that Direk is considered the emerging premier logistics location in Adelaide.

The property will become available for lease from October onwards. Steve says it will attract occupiers in the logistics, e-commerce, and warehousing spaces.

Leedwell has been involved with over 50,000 sqm of leasing in Direk and Edinburgh over the past 18 months. It believes the connectivity of the region and more competitive rental rates are undeniably the key reasons tenants are attracted to relocating there.

THE NORTHERN CONNECTOR The Northern Connector was completed in 2020. Steve attributes it to being the catalyst for

Direk is considered the emerging premier logistics location in Adelaide.

MHD JUNE 2022 | 17

MHD INDUSTRIAL PROPERTY

The property will attract potential occupiers from the logistics, e-commerce, and warehousing spaces.

demand increasing in these regions.

The new infrastructure provides more than 15 kms of six-lane motorway, saving time for trucks and passenger vehicles between the region and industrial areas like Regency Park and Wingfield as well as the port facilities at Outer Harbour.

“It has absolutely transformed the accessibility to the outer north and the inner northern market, which is our traditional Adelaide industrial market,” Steve says.

“The inner northern market has been running out of land for several years whereas the outer northern market has had a large supply,” he adds. “Once the Northern Connector was completed, it only took 12 months to sell 50 to 60 hectares of land in the outer region.”

“Over the last couple of years, we’ve had a huge amount of success, selling land there and that’s predominantly on the back of the infrastructure.”

He notes the Northern Connector has helped reduce travel time from circa 25 to 10 minutes between the two industrial markets.

Steve notes new developments for tenants in the region include CHEP, 15,000 sqm; Apex Steel, 17,500 sqm; M3 Logistics, 6700 sqm while new developments for owner-occupiers include GTS Logistics, Hobsen Engineering and Direct Freight Express.

These tenants have been attracted to the region due to affordability and ease of access.

Developers are mobilising and preparing development applications to construct industrial facilities to meet 18 | MHD JUNE 2022

the demand on spec or pre-committing development outcomes with tenants prior to construction starting.

LACK OF LAND According to Steve, institutions historically have owned stabilised assets in Adelaide rather than development assets – he says this dates back to the mid-2000s.

“We had Australand, Goodman, Stockland and Dexus as the main groups that were operating,” he explains.

“

It’s still affordable now despite the completion of the Northern Connector. You can still pay a competitive land rate and you’ve got the advantage of a closer proximity to major transport infrastructure.

”

“Since the GFC, many of those groups have not considered Adelaide from a development perspective and maintained a focus on the stabilised income producing assets.

“Over the past 24 months in particular, the focus has returned to Adelaide given the strength of the industrial market across Australia, and the growth that the institutions are looking for, to continue

their development pipeline, and their funds under management models.

“They’ve turned their attention to the Adelaide market because they haven’t necessarily had a presence here in the past. Some of those groups include Charter Hall, Quintessential, Pelligra, Centuria, and ESR.” He says developers had noticed land parcels vanishing before their eyes as owner-occupiers bought more than 40 hectares of land throughout the region, forcing them to scramble to secure stock so they could compete as well as ensure they continued to grow their property portfolio while offering opportunities to their customer base across the country.

These groups have bought a lot of the remaining stock, which has resulted in land scarcity. Steve says new developments are now needed to solve the supply problem.

Historically, the land sale rates per square metre in the outer northern market were almost 50 per cent lower than the rate in the inner market. The values are now closer than they were previously thanks to the Northern Connector.

“The demand increased so quickly because the land sale rate hadn’t necessarily caught up,” Steve says.

“It’s still affordable now despite the completion of the Northern Connector.

You can still pay a competitive land rate and you’ve got the advantage of a closer proximity to major transport infrastructure.

“The solution to the lack of supply needs to be development-led, and developers need to back themselves and their agents in to attract and secure leasing outcomes during the development program.

“We’re now in that situation where several developers have submitted applications to council to develop industrial property in ranges from 1500 sqm up to 10,000 sqm.

“And that is still going to be lagging the demand because it will take six to 12 months to bring these properties out of the ground, but the more quickly developers can undertake these works, the quicker that the demand can be met.

“In terms of where we’re sitting in the market, some of the key drivers for these new developments relate back to stock levels being so limited coupled with rental growth opportunities.

The time is now!” ■

MHD DISTRIBUTION CENTRES

MUNRO FOOTWEAR POSITIONING FOR GROWTH AT CHARTER HALL’S MIDWEST LOGISTICS HUB, TRUGANINA An artist’s impression of Munro Footwear facility.

Charter Hall explains to MHD how smart warehouses are driving omni-channel business transformation. Charter Hall is delivering Munro Footwear Group’s purpose-built distribution centre in Melbourne’s west later this year. The stateof-the-art facility will help the shoe retailer keep up with the demands brought on by the e-commerce boom.

T

he shift to online retailing shows no sign of slowing down with the pandemic further super-charging customer demand for quick and costeffective deliveries, particularly in the fashion sector.

In fact, Australia’s e-commerce penetration rate as a percentage of total retail sales continue to rise and is at a new record of 14.6 per cent equivalent to $55 billion over the past 12 months (Source: CBRE Australian Industrial & Logistics Market Report May 2022).

This growth is translating into rapidly evolving and complex distribution centre requirements as businesses seek to transform their omni-channel operations to respond to their customer base shifting their spend from bricks and mortar to online.

For Charter Hall, Australia’s largest provider of industrial and logistics

20 | MHD JUNE 2022

facilities, this is demonstrated by increasing e-commerce related enquiries from existing and new customers with more than 20 per cent of leasing enquiries in the last 24 months incorporating an omni-channel approach.

“As demand for state-of-theart industrial and logistics facilities accelerates further, we are redefining what is possible when it comes to the operational and technological capability and sustainability innovation,” Andrew Simons Head of Department, Industrial and Logistics at Charter Hall, explains.

“At Charter Hall, we specialise in partnering with Australia’s leading and most trusted businesses as well as global brands, to develop, own and manage next-generation industrial and logistics facilities that are custom-designed to meet our customers’ needs for the long-term,” he adds.

“For many businesses this means investing heavily upfront in highly techenabled facilities that have in-built flexibility to support their business growth and deliver on their increasingly sophisticated operational requirements.

“For even the largest businesses this can prove challenging, which is one reason why we’re seeing more organisations seeking our expertise in the development of their facilities.

“For example, automation is truly shaping the way we work, impacting everything from facility design to software selection and recruitment with businesses looking to streamline processes and increase efficiencies.

“We’re looking in tandem with our customers to help them capitalise on the benefits automation brings to operational efficiency, customer experience and ultimately the bottom-line.”

MHD DISTRIBUTION CENTRES

Munro Footwear’s new facility is a key initiative to expand its business and optimise its omni-channel customer experience.

A good example of how a longstanding Australian retailer is transforming its business with omnichannel solutions thanks to innovative warehousing and logistics, is major Australian footwear retailer and wholesaler, Munro Footwear Group.

Charter Hall partnered with Munro on a new state-of-the-art distribution centre at MidWest Logistics Hub in Truganina, Victoria.

Located 22km west of Melbourne CBD, MidWest features the latest tech-enabled industrial and logistics facilities with market-leading innovations in automation.

The strategic location, high-quality features, and Charter Hall’s track record of certainty of delivery on large, complex projects was a drawcard for Munro and major brands including Coles, Uniqlo, Toll, Ingham’s, and Bridgestone.

Following a complete review of its warehouse and distribution functions, Munro made the strategic decision to consolidate and optimise its domestic supply chain.

Munro is experiencing a large increase in online and omni-channel orders, which is impacting manual operator productivity and increases in packaging requirements. This, coupled with the desire to deliver a better experience for customers, drove the need for a more automated solution.

Due to complete later this year, Munro will relocate from its current operations spread across two facilities into the new $50 million purpose-built national distribution centre, which will service its in-store, wholesale, and online operations.

The 26,534 sqm facility offers an almost five-hectare site and will incorporate one of Australia’s largest fleets of Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMR) to pick and pack items for delivery to stores and direct to customers.

The leading-edge AMR solution has the capacity to store more than 1.2 million units, providing Munro with sufficient scale that it can remodel its end-to-end inventory management strategy.

The facility has been designed to achieve a minimum 5 Star Green Star Design & As-Built rating, delivering Australian best practice environmental performance and lower operating costs.

The new AMR solution will increase picking speed and accuracy, creating greater productivity and efficiency in operations, while reducing lead times to both customers and stores.

This new facility will assist in optimising inventory levels, improving integration with transport carriers and enhancing customer experience across the group’s 260-plus store network and its 11 e-commerce sites – the latter having seen significant growth during recent years.

“Our business is on a strong growth trajectory, and we have made a major investment in optimising our supply chain operations to support our increasing in-store and online sales,” Marcus Bartlett, Chief Operating Officer at Munro, says.

“This new facility is a key initiative in our multi-year growth plan to expand our business, optimise our omni-channel customer experience and strengthen our distribution capability, particularly to support online sales,” he adds.

“With this new facility, we will have sufficient space to have more products available for online customers, and the increased picking speed, accuracy and productivity will lead to reduced return rates.

“In addition, the location is perfect and provides a link into domestic carriers for better integration and quicker delivery times to meet changing demand and customer expectations.”

“We’re seeing many of our customers’ warehouse needs changing as they seek to expand and enhance their online operations in response to the continued e-commerce boom,” Andrew says.

“Thanks to our portfolio size and flexible approach, we can develop purpose-built, scalable facilities and support our customers to move within our portfolio whenever needed.

“With a specialist in-house team of 80-plus in key markets across the

country, experienced in development and property management, supply chain management, sustainability and technology, our people are passionate about delivering innovative solutions that enable businesses to grow.

“Shifting from their existing ambient warehouse to a business-first fully automated facility is an important move for Munro, and our team are working closely with them on every step of the region and delivery journey.

“The integration of leadingedge technology and AMR solutions combined with the estate’s strategic location close to distribution channels including the Port of Melbourne ensures the facility will deliver exceptional supply chain efficiencies and productivity for Munro’s business and customers.”

Munro has partnered with leading supply chain and property consultancy TMX to design its new operations and automated solution and run the project management of the development alongside Charter Hall.

“This innovative new facility has one of the largest AMR goods-to-person deployments in Australia and is an exciting milestone for Munro,” Nick De Klerk, Senior Consultant at TMX, says.

“Tailored to their requirements, the AMR technology stores and automatically retrieves over 1.2 million pairs of shoes,” he adds.

“The key objectives for the solution design were to provide a highly ergonomic, comfortable, and safe operating environment for facility operators, while ensuring throughput and flexibility to meet requirements today, and tomorrow.

“To achieve this, the system features over 200 AMRs, 6000 mobile storage shelves and workstations specific for B2B and B2C channels.”

Automated solutions that drive more efficient returns handling including packaging and the fast and precise picking of small orders are becoming an increasingly critical aspect of the online fulfilment value chain.

Market-leading facilities such as Charter Hall’s MidWest Logistics Hub are solving these operational and supply chain challenges in a fast-moving market where maintaining quick and efficient deliveries and returns are essential to meet the high expectations of today’s online shoppers. ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 21

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22 2:40 pm

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

COLLABORATION WITH COBOTS Rhett Talley, Marketing & Business Development Manager – Automation for Diverseco introduces the brand-new Doosan H-Series, the most powerful collaborative robot in the market.

D

iverseco is, as its name implies, a diverse company – built over the years through amalgamating businesses and product offerings that are both unique and mutually complementary.

Rhett Talley, Marketing & Business Development Manager – Automation, notes that Diverseco has been a longterm agent for Kawasaki Robotics’ range of industrial robots. The partnership has served both companies well. But Diverseco has more recently been in search of collaborative robots to complement Kawasaki industrial robots, delivering more value to customers and building on the success of its Kawasaki offerings.

As a result, Diverseco is now the exclusive Australian distributor for Korean manufacturer Doosan Robotics.

This includes the full range, comprising the A- Series, M-Series, and the brand-new H-Series collaborative robot (‘Cobot’).

WHAT IS A COBOT? Doosan Cobots are not to be confused with Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), Rhett is careful to point out.

He notes that these terms are often used interchangeably in the industry – with the result that when people think of Cobots they may not grasp their unique potential to help operations in innovative ways.

“Oftentimes people use the terms Cobots and AMRs interchangeably, but they can refer to completely distinct machine concepts, so it’s important to understand what Cobots are and what their unique value is,” Rhett says. “I think AMRs are called ‘robots’ partly because it sounds sexy. AMRs serve a range of critical intralogistics functions – moving things from point

A to point B; or picking for warehouse fulfilment and other tasks. AMRs move around autonomously and through a combination of sophisticated onboard sensors and fleet management software make decisions in real time – so, yes they are robotic in that sense– as such they are a real break from, say, AGVs [automated guided vehicles] which move along a pre-set pathway, and are rather inflexible. AMRs are collaborative of course, meaning they are designed to work safely alongside humans. But up to now when most people think of ‘robots’ or ‘cobots’ they might be thinking about a robotic arm with an end of arm tool.”

But a Cobot, more specifically a Cobot arm, is more akin to a traditional industrial robot in that it is set in a fixed position and performs repetitive tasks.

The difference though – and part of what makes them collaborative – is that a Cobot’s end of arm tool (EoAT) can be changed and quickly redeployed to perform a wide variety of collaborative tasks besides its common palletising and depalletising function.

“In most cases traditional industrial robots are configured to perform one set task with a fixed, permanent end of arm tool,” Rhett notes. “Cobots, however, are often fitted with what are called Quick Change end effectors (grippers) like those from our agency OnRobot. These quick change grippers can allow an operator to move quickly from one application to another enabling quick Cobot redeployment and truly collaborative applications. They can be reconfigured to switch tasks in just a few minutes – so they can adapt to collaborate with workers in different ways depending on the immediate requirement – and unlike traditional industrial robots, which must operate within safety cages, Cobots are designed

The Doosan H-Series Cobot with the Lift100 from OnRobot takes collaboration between man and machine to new heights. with human collaboration in mind with built in sensors and design features to ensure the highest levels of safety. So, you can work side by side with your Cobot, and a quick adjustment to its end of arm tool means it can collaborate with you on very wide range of tasks.”

COBOTIC APPLICATIONS “A key advantage to Cobots is that non-robotics people – standard workers and operators – can easily change arm tool grippers and applications,” Rhett points out.

This streamlines the workplace and allows for greater flexibility and adaptability.

“They’re also easier to deploy because there is a reduced engineering time – you don’t need robotics experts to reconfigure them – and reduced systems integration time,” he adds.

“Traditional industrial robots have MHD JUNE 2022 | 23

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING a heavy and more time-consuming integration cost because they’re installed permanently to perform one task in the same place at rapid speed. By contrast, Cobots are lighter, so they can be moved around, they’re not caged, and they can be quickly introduced to different environments to perform myriad tasks.

They’re just more versatile.”

Rhett says that in the domains of manufacturing, warehousing, and factory processes, Cobots are one of the best tools that intelligent engineers have come up with.

“It’s one machine, the Cobot, but with minor tweaks can perform very different jobs for you,” he says. “There are probably five main applications for which Cobots are suited. First, there’s palletising – picking and placing and palletising. Second, Cobots can perform welding tasks – very useful in metal fabrication – we’ve just released our own cobot welding system called the Weld Mate 355 that is perfect for collaboratively working alongside a human welder and enhancing their capabilities and throughput. Third is machine tending, and fourth is assembly.

The fifth application I identify for Cobots is what I like to call ‘you-nameit’ – meaning it’s essentially up to the individual’s imagination.”

In other words, while Cobots have obvious immediate everyday applications

Diverseco’s Rhett Talley shows off the new Doosan H-Series Cobot at AUSPACK 2022.

– such as the four Rhett identifies – its potential applications are limitless. And this is a crucial advantage in Australian manufacturing and industry – where resilience, agility, and flexibility, and reliability in the face of unforeseen disruptions are highly prized qualities.

DIVERSECO – YOUR GO-TO COBOT INTEGRATOR At the 2022 AUSPACK exhibition, held at the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre in Melbourne last month, Diverseco gave its first demonstration of the Doosan H-Series Cobot in action – showing off its palletising capabilities using the OnRobot Lift100 height extension.

“It was our first time showing it off to the public, and there’s a few things that make this particular cobot configuration very special,” Rhett says. “One of these is that the OnRobot Lift100 is basically a means to extend the height of the Cobot’s reach. So, if it’s palletising a pallet of cartons and reaches a certain level, the Lift100 will raise the Cobot higher so that it can just keep on palletising up to a height of 2.2 meters.”

Rhett and the Diverseco team are keen to educate Australian industry on the unique value of the Cobot – and even keener to implement more and more of them across the country. And, while one might be tempted to say that Diverseco is ready to hit the ground running, the fact is it’s long been running all over the country delivering robotics solutions.

“Diverseco is a systems and robotics integrator with offices and staff in all five capital cities, including our own robotics hub in Ballarat,” Rhett mentions. “We’re also in the process of setting up a Darwin office. So, we have the resources around the country to support our products, and we have methods whereby we can access equipment remotely via internet connection. Our Australian-based engineers can provide support in realtime to customers.

“Because Diverseco is a diverse company with a history stretching back three decades, we are an established and already-approved vendor to everyone from Rio Tinto and BHP to Toll and DHL – to name only a handful.

“While our Cobot offering may be new in the market – we are not. We have the reputation, credibility, resources, and reach to deliver this exciting new solution right now.” ■

AUSTRALIAN PREMIER: DOOSAN COLLABORATIVE ROBOT (COBOT) PALLETISER WITH ONROBOT LIFT100 AND ONROBOT END OF ARM TOOL. The brand-new Doosan H-Series is the most powerful collaborative robot in the market. It’s amazing reach of 1700mm along with its maximum payload capacity of 20kg makes it a tireless factory helper ready to work 3 shifts, 365 days a year (with some minor maintenance downtime please – but no days off!).

Along with high safety and high flexibility the Doosan Cobot can be quickly redeployed to perform an almost infinite variety of collaborative jobbing tasks besides just palletising or depalletising. Simply change the end of arm tools with the OnRobot Quick Change gripper system and start a new application in just a few minutes.

This is a truly collaborative cobot palletising and depalletizing system with an impressive performance capability. The system includes the OnRobot Lift100 for safe and collaborative 7th axis reach height extension and the OnRobot VGP20 vacuum gripper and optional 2FG20 finger gripper (for cartons and slip sheets) – both designed with the Doosan H series in mind.

SUMMARY OF PERFORMANCE CAPABILITIES: • Quick 5-minute user-intuitive cobot job change or job set-up • Maximum stacked pallet height up to 2.2 meters • Maximum carton weight up to 16kg with the OnRobot VGP20 gripper • Maximum carton weight up to 16kg with the OnRobot 2FGP20 gripper • Maximum pick rate of up to 7 picks per minute (one every 8.6 seconds)* • Potential of gripper to pick multiple cartons – subject to weight and size • Standard single or dual palletising capability (a pallet on either side of the Cobot) With the Doosan Cobot Palletising System there is no need for safety cages or other fixed site infrastructure – the safety is built in. This means the Cobot can be quickly redeployed for other tasks by simply choosing from an ever-growing array of quick-change robot end effectors from OnRobot or other manufacturers.

24 | MHD JUNE 2022

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20/05/2022 6:57 AM

MHD SUSTAINABILITY

BUILDING A WARM AND FUZZY SUSTAINABLE FUTURE

Fuzzy LogX Director of Systems and DC Design, Jeff Triantafilo, and Make Good Decisions Project Manager, Amanda Rawstron, tell MHD Supply Chain how they are delivering sustainable solutions for warehousing and distribution clients that they can feel warm and fuzzy about.

T

hrough a team of experienced consultants focused on designing, engineering and operating complex, manual and automated logistics facilities, Fuzzy LogX advises various logistics clients across Australia and New Zealand.

As experts in DC design, re-engineering and warehouse automation – the ‘Warehouse Wizards’, as they like to be called – Fuzzy LogX aims to find the best solution for their client’s needs – from the initial idea to optimal outcome – via independent consulting services, project management, solutions implementation, and operational intelligence.

And in today’s business climate, the best solutions must include sustainability as one of the key considerations.

At its core, Fuzzy LogX focuses on creating a personal consultation experience for its clients. This extends to its inherent business model, in striving to reduce waste across the board and creating fulfilling workplaces.

“We go to the minutest detail in finding ways to optimise our clients’ processes,” Fuzzy LogX Director – Systems and DC Design Jeff Triantafilo says. “At the core of that is reducing waste – wasted effort, wasted cost, wasted time – and that perpetuates from the ground up. Historically there has only been a focus on sustainable building design. Where we add value is in designing an efficient operation first, followed by solution designs that focus on increasing sustainability which in turn ties in to making the building more sustainable.”

In working with Make Good Decisions Project Manager, Amanda Rawstron,

26 | MHD JUNE 2022

Identifying and implementing sustainable practices is key for the next generation of warehouses.

to bolster its project management capabilities, Fuzzy LogX is able to further optimise operations.

“Logistics and supply chain optimisation is all about the minimisation of waste, traditionally the main focus has been limited to the areas of saving excess labour resources, time and costs,” Amanda says. “Now, it’s about the total reduction of waste.

By taking that extra step in terms of harnessing our environmental resources, we are able to take a more holistic approach when looking at sustainability and optimisation from a supply chain perspective.”

This has translated to the way Fuzzy

LogX offers its services to clients.

According to Jeff, identifying and implementing sustainable practices in warehousing is key for the next generation of warehouses.

“Over time, warehousing has become part of the circular economy,” he says.

“Fuzzy LogX has a niche in automation, where sustainability is becoming allencompassing in every area of the warehouse. The basic sustainability standards already include forklifts that run on hydrogen or have motors that regenerate energy, on-site EV charging stations, conveyors that only move when their sensors are triggered, and lights that only turn on when someone

MHD SUSTAINABILITY goes into the aisle. There is, however, a new wave of sustainability that clients need to focus on.”

One example is packaging. With the explosion in e-commerce as a result of COVID-19, end customers become increasingly conscious of waste and the environmental implications of the packaging in which their online orders arrive, and companies are more aware of their environmental responsibilities.

Amanda’s strategy is that “to reuse” is much better than “to recycle”.

“How do we minimise bringing new things into the warehouse?” she asks.

“The way to do that is to procure well, but then reuse rather than recycle or dispose, as there’s a huge amount of energy required for recycling. In this part of the circular economy, where everything becomes a resource, everything is treated as a resource. So, it’s about really thinking at the time of procurement, ‘What is the total life value of this, even if you’re talking about items such as cardboard boxes, satchels, labels, etc.’ Effectively, each time you reuse, you are also creating value by halving the amount of procurement cost and eliminating the recycle phase, because you’ve bought it once and used it twice.”

The commercial benefit of reducing costs along with environmental impact is astounding. When you consider the sheer number of packages being shipped daily throughout Australia and how often these packages are filled with either air or void fill, you’d wonder why businesses don’t put more focus on packaging and how to optimally use them.

Jeff says that most of their customers have ideas about reducing packaging waste, but they are hampered by their own business in being able to implement them.

“Most of our e-commerce clients use branded satchels or cardboard boxes to ship their orders to their customers,” he says. “Historically, clients would have several pre-defined sizes suitable for different order sizes. A branded plastic satchel for small items, and maybe three different carton sizes with their logo on the side of the carton for the larger orders. To eliminate damage, operators would add void fill to the cardboard boxes or wrap items in bubble wrap before they close the satchel. Having branded, pre-defined packaging sizes provides a barrier to reduce waste.

“There is a myriad of carton creation

When designing and building the most sustainable warehouses, Fuzzy LogX is the team to turn to. and size reduction machines on the market which either make a cardboard box to size or reduce the size of the finished carton down to the top of the products inside the carton to eliminate void fill and shipping air. What is preventing most clients from going down this route is branding specialists or marketing departments who don’t involve the warehouse team when designing these branded satchels or boxes. We get passionate about these things,” Jeff says.

“A simple change to a carton design can make a huge difference. For instance, if you switch to branded lids instead of branded cartons, you can implement carton size reduction machines and still achieve a premium customer experience.

Switching to Redcycle satchels means joining the circular economy because they recycle Coles and Woolworths soft plastic packaging into satchels. You could even go a step further and use bio-degradable satchels if you’re not fussed about branding.”

Amanda says this circular strategy also applies to energy usage, especially when it comes to automated operations.

On completing a ground-up study for a client of how much energy a warehouse using traditional forklifts uses in comparison to an Automated Guided Vehicle (AGV) solution, they found that 20 per cent less energy was required.

“We extrapolated the power usage and actual equipment required and the times that the equipment was operating in a detailed analysis, and it was actually a 20 per cent reduction in the electricity bills for an AGV operation versus a traditional person-operated forklift,” Amanda notes. “Then, the dollar savings from reducing energy waste were incorporated into the business case. It was a doublepronged approach to ensure that that benefit transpires – not only from a sustainability perspective, but also

translating into the commercial bottom line for the business.”

Circling back to the focus on sustainable buildings and a drive to make them climate positive, Jeff mentions that most of their clients are now actively adding a sustainability stream to any new project.

“What sets us apart is that we look outside the box. We have developed a number of tools which can be used to calculate the impact of implementing sustainability improvements: from operational profiling to identify the optimal charging times for MHE equipment when solar is available during the day to the commercial benefits of using tank water as energy storage,” Jeff mentions. “Being solution and vendor agnostic also helps because it means our team has no limits when identifying the most suitable sustainability solutions for our clients without compromising on the operational efficiency.”

Jeff challenges the industry to move towards completely off-thegrid warehouses.

“If the ideas and the opportunities are out there, we’re willing to help build the business cases,” he says. “Warehousing has never been known for being energy efficient, and with energy costs going up and resources becoming scarcer, the business case is there. The question remains, How do we get there?”

When designing and building the most sustainable warehouses, Fuzzy LogX is the team to turn to.

“There’s something special about Fuzzy LogX, and it’s becoming a bit of a verb for our clients where ‘Fuzzy’ means more than just productivity and cost saving,” Jeff concludes.

“We’re constantly looking to create not just better buildings, but to create better operations and more fulfilling workplaces too.” ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 27

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MHD WAREHOUSES AND DCS

TRACKING PRODUCTS WITH MULTI-CODE READERS

ifm efector’s Eugene Inbaraj, a Field Technical Support Engineer gives MHD an insight into the German company’s identification sensors and how they’re being used throughout the COVID-19 pandemic in warehouses and distribution centres.

T

he German tech company ifm efector, a manufacturer of industrial sensors and solutions of technical process by means of sensors, networking, and control systems, is equipping the supply chain and logistics industries with a range of advanced sensors to help with sorting and tracking products in warehouses and distribution centres.

Eugene Inbaraj, an electrical engineer has been working as a Field Technical Support Engineer at ifm for the past three years.

With the latest update in the O2I5xx multi-code reader, the company now offers optical character recognition (OCR), which Eugene says was introduced by vision-based tech companies back in the 1980s. It utilises vision technologies and methods to identify texts on packaging. This is used to check if an expiry date is properly labelled on a product or if its details are correct or incorrect.

Before businesses can deliver their products from a warehouse or DC to a retail store such as a supermarket, they can use OCR to ensure important dates are printed accurately on the product. With the uptake of IoT devices in industry, the exchange of data between manufacturer and retailer has made this process easier.

“With O2I5 series code readers we can read a single line barcode, 2D QR codes and do OCR with the same device,” Eugene says. “The processing is done on board of the camera, and it has various functions to identify which codes are being presented to it,” he adds.

“We cover a foundation of products from photoelectric, inductive and

With the uptake of IoT devices in industry, the exchange of data between manufacturer and retailer has made this process easier. capacitive position sensors right up to complex systems where we investigate vibration analysis, condition-based monitoring, track and trace systems, vision systems, and we can help provide a complete solution package for a broad range of industries from that large portfolio.”

Eugene explains how code reading is a very big business in terms of track and trace. “It’s a broad umbrella of a symphony of different technologies coming together that provides insight of where the product is in the whole manufacturing process and supply chain.”

He says once it reaches the customers’ hands, they can trace its genealogy. This helps to identify counterfeits and help manufacturers in establishing lead times and stock levels, especially when there’s a short supply of raw material or components, or when there’s nothing available.

Each of these materials or products

that are being manufactured will have some sort of code, and these will be fed back into a planning scheduler, Eugene says.

An example he gives is if someone is shopping at a local store and wants to know where a product was manufactured – depending on the product; they can find this out just by scanning something like a QR code. Additionally, they can ascertain as to whether the country of origin subscribes to the UN’s Human Rights policy, hence helping the customer make an ethical purchase.

“It helps the end-user to make a conscious decision on what product they’re buying, who’s touched it, who’s manufactured it, preventing counterfeit, and it also helps in reducing lead time and storage, and time to manufacture so the customer knows everything and every point of the process,” Eugene explains.

He says if a product doesn’t have a MHD JUNE 2022 | 29

MHD WAREHOUSES AND DCS

With the latest update in the O2I5xx multicode reader, the company now offers optical character recognition (OCR).

code, or if it has the wrong code or a bad expiry date, or if it’s contaminated, it can be difficult to trace its origins, i.e., discover where it was manufactured and its movements via the supply chain.

This can be a costly exercise because it makes it harder for the manufacturer to isolate the event and contain it.

“It’s also going to be very expensive if the customer decides to say ‘hey, you’ve got to take this back, and someone’s got to pay for the charges,’” Eugene says.

“Someone’s got to pay for restocking and checking in on all the costs that goes along with that,” he adds.

He says nowadays code reading technology is seamlessly integrated with and linked to DCs and warehouses, making it easy for an end-user to make

data-supported business decisions.

“In the future, you could see everything,” he says. “You probably wouldn’t even need to see a price tag if you walked through a door of a store.

You’d just scan with your phone, and you can see what the price is.

“If you had augmented reality, it could even show up in your glasses – I think that’s going to be in the future – so we can have data everywhere.”

There are also foundation sensing technologies, which detect when doors are open and closed as well as determining when temperatures or pressures are too high that can be captured and tagged to a code on a product.

He says the code readers are complex sensors that are imagebased and enhance warehouse and DC workers’ efforts.

Eugene explains how automation with code readers is great and will help with efficiency cost reduction. “It will be used for laborious and monotonous work that humans are currently doing,” he says, however, the challenge will be giving workers new employment that is fulfilling.

He says code readers and the ability to recode robots and the rise of

automation IoT, are helping businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“There was such a significant development of automated warehousing facilities, for instance,” he says. “And the number of online sales drove the level of automation that went just along with robots and these kinds of sensing technologies, and then you have the issue of order and travel disruptions, and without having stock, you couldn’t build anything.”

He says therefore it’s important to use code reading sensors to ensure the track and trace system is robust in a manufacturing facility.

“If one facility is running out of stock of a particular kind of material, then the system must be able to tell us we need to get it from somewhere else and how much is that is required to fulfil customer orders,” he says.

“Track and trace systems can help and has helped in these situations where war has disrupted logistics.”

He adds that ifm efector along with several other companies have been affected by the short supply of CPUs largely due to the impact COVID-19 and conflict is having upon global supply chains. ■

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EMERGING LOGISTICS TRENDS AND TECHNOLOGIES

Stockland explores what changes have occurred in the logistics industry throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. It tells MHD how revolutionary technology such as warehouse automation and data analytics – to name a few – are shaping the ever-increasing area of e-commerce with commentary from Craig Lenarduzzi, the company’s National Development Manager for Logistics.

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any trends and technologies have emerged in response to COVID-19 driven disruption and increased demand for logistics space.

Restrictions on people’s movements and social distancing requirements are impacting how industrial occupiers use their space.

There’s been an increase in warehouse automation, more importance placed on data and analytics, artificial intelligence, and hub-and-spoke supply chain models (Source 2021 Asia Pacific Logistics Occupier Survey).

Smart warehouse technologies have seen rapid uptake in recent years and play a key role in helping e-commerce platforms improve efficiency, augment order handling capacity, and address manual labour shortages.

The use of robotics in logistics property continues to rise as integrated technology solutions support the speed and efficiency of supply chains.

Stockland’s logistics portfolio provides modern facilities already designed to accommodate potential future changes for our customers. Automation and robotics have boomed in industrial property – another trend that we are supporting through an open management style and deploying facilities designed to allow for future automation, driven by the rise of e-commerce, such as appropriate floor loads, access, and racking heights.

AUTONOMOUS TRUCKING CBRE has examined how autonomous trucking technology will impact industrial real estate and concluded it will profoundly shape the 32 | MHD JUNE 2022

Yennora Distribution Centre, NSW. logistics sector in Australia.

With the adoption of electric and driverless trucks, the trucking industry will be able to cut both its fuel and labour costs, shifting its focus toward building technological systems that can meet the demand for goods more efficiently while focusing more on inventory and occupancy costs.

As future vehicles become increasingly autonomous, we will see direct effects on logistics facilities, from electric and selfdriving trucks.

1. Lower transport costs will mean that, at a given level, a supply chain will need fewer warehouses. It is expected this will strengthen the already visible trend of warehouse consolidation and increase in scale. As a result, there are likely to be fewer but larger warehouses being built in remote locations.

2. Last-mile delivery facilities will be crucial elements in the network, as they need to be able to make the modal shift from diesel to electric. They will need to be able to receive large (semi-) automated truck convoys and deploy electric city delivery vehicles. The sites will of course need to be equipped with extensive battery loading stations.

3. All warehouses will need a courtyard that allows automatic manoeuvring,

accommodating the self-driving trucks as they pass to and from facilities.

Automated driving will allow driver restrictions to be relaxed, increasing both distance and coverage and thereby bringing remote storage locations into play. The result will be lower delivery costs for the consumer; with compression in industrial and distribution cost structures, e-commerce sales likely will increase.

In Asia Pacific, several governments, in partnership with private companies and universities, are road testing self-driving technology, with Australia, Singapore, Japan and China leading the region. In late 2015, Volvo partnered with industry bodies to road-test autonomous vehicles in southern Australia.

The rise of self-driving trucks will lead to growth in IT infrastructure and data centres, as there will be a need for real-time traffic data and for providers to be located near their end users (source: Automated Trucking - a CBRE Research Perspective, 2017).

This proliferation will support the development of the “Internetof-Things,” with electronic sensors and software devices, vehicles, buildings, and other items collecting and exchanging data.

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Key West Distribution Centre, VIC. In the future’s complete self-driving stage, trucks will be able to drive from point A to point B without human intervention. This stage may usher in a substantial increase in global demand for goods, with trans-shipment capacity growing exponentially.

Although full implementation of driverless trucks remains far ahead in the future, advances in the technology have come quite rapidly. The adoption of this technology may also come faster than anticipated, like smartphones and other transformative products that have been accepted quickly throughout the world.

It is estimated that 51 per cent of the US trucking industry is expecting driverless trucks by 2025 (Source: Automated Trucking - a CBRE Research Perspective, 2017 and Labour & Automation and the rise of robotics in logistics - JLL EMEA Industrial and Logistics, 2018.)

STOCKLAND LOGISTICS EXPERT INSIGHTS – CRAIG LENARDUZZI Technology is set to transform logistics design and operations over the next five years, (Australia’s E-Commerce Trend and Trajectory report - CBRE 2021.) improving efficiency, providing greater operational flexibility, and increasing the speed of supply chains.

As technology progresses and costs fall, automation including the use of autonomous guided vehicles will be increasingly used in a wide range of warehouse roles such as unloading inbound goods, putting goods into storage, picking, and packing and dispatch.

In many of these roles they will work alongside people and hence human robotic interaction will become an increasingly important factor behind warehouse productivity.

Industrial and logistics assets serving next-generation supply chains will also incorporate environmentally friendly, socially responsible features and provide high-quality working conditions.

Stockland National Development Manager, Logistics, Craig Lenarduzzi, says our business is working to deliver the next generation of warehouses to users at several such developments

in Melbourne, Sydney, and Brisbane, and looking to accelerate the delivery of our logistics development pipeline in response to increasing demand from end users.

“We’re coming off about three years in a row of record take-up from a logistics leasing perspective so we’re certainly seeing that demand and we expect it to continue into the foreseeable future,” Craig says.

“In 2019 we had a national take-up of about 2.8 million sqm,” he adds.

“Then in 2020 that was over 3,000,000 sqm with a further increase in 2021, so we’re seeing record demand across the board.”

Craig agrees that a lot of the increased growth in the sector is being driven by the rise of e-commerce.

“It’s certainly been one of the most prevalent drivers, particularly over the last couple of years,” Craig explains.

“If you have a look at the online reach, or penetration, from e-commerce in Australia the online share of the retail market has now reached a record 19.3 per cent (CBRE Sydney Industrial and Logistics Land Supply Final - CBRE Research September 2021).

“While this far exceeds previous forecasts it is still well below other markets globally where online spending can be as high as 50 per cent of total retail spend so this trend is likely to continue to grow (CBRE Sydney Industrial and Logistics Land Supply Final - CBRE Research September 2021).

“This growth translates into demand for industrial space. For every billion dollars’ worth of e-commerce, that’s another 70,000 sqm of space.

This has led to a large incremental increase on top of traditional demand.

“The impact of COVID-19 has further accelerated this shift to online with more than 80 per cent of Australians shopping online in the past year.

“After lockdowns more people had become used to shopping online and this behaviour pattern is expected to continue in the longer term.”

Surprisingly, Craig says that the amount of floor space that customers require for their e-commerce operations is greater than traditional

bricks and mortar.

“Reverse logistics is one such requirement which is when something bought online is returned,” Craig explains.

“They need to make sure that they have got the adequate amount of space to account for returned stock, so their required footprint can be quite a lot larger than traditional requirements.”

Does he see Stockland’s logistics portfolio transforming with an increase in the likes of automation?

“We are certainly starting to see automation become more prevalent,” Craig says.

“It’s an upwards trend but it’s really driven by specific customer requirements,” he adds.

“Every customer has a different supply chain and different requirements. We have standardised base building design briefs and then work with customers to integrate their specific requirements to deliver the best overall solution.

“One of the challenges with having a great deal of automation can be the relatively high up-front costs which may require customers to take longer leases to amortise these costs.

“This can deter users that prefer shorter term leases for flexibility or to align with third party contract terms.

However, as technology progresses and costs for automation continue to reduce, this technology may become more accessible for a wider range of users.

“Another key trend driving demand has been the impact of global supply chain disruptions, with the change from just in time to just-in-case’ phenomena, many groups are now choosing to hold more inventory to deal with these disruptions.”

Tenants are struggling to find highquality, well-positioned logistics space but Craig says Stockland is always available to help.

“One of the things that we pride ourselves on is assisting our customers with their growth, which is why it’s so important for us to have a strong land bank in key locations,” Craig says.

“So, the more options we have, the more we able to work with our customers to optimise their footprint. We’ve certainly been able to do that and with our large development pipeline coming up, we can certainly talk to customers about what those opportunities might look like.” ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 33

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

LEVERAGING THE POTENTIAL OF THE DIGITAL ERA A global benchmarking survey by Körber Supply Chain has revealed the key challenges for supply chain operations worldwide. More than 500 respondents shared their concerns and priorities for the year ahead.

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uring the last decade, the supply chain has emerged as a missioncritical function that can define the success or failure of an organisation.

At the same time, global megatrends such as changing consumer behaviours, the rising interconnectivity of the global economy, and unexpected disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic have increased supply chain complexity.

Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking 2022 report reveals the global perspectives on supply chain complexity and performance. More than 200 organisations and 500 employees from throughout the world responded to the survey and revealed that while awareness of the external factors driving supply chain complexity was high, there is room for improvement in implementing measures to increase customer satisfaction, labour efficiency and process automation.

The report revealed that the majority of businesses are struggling with the rapid expansion of e-commerce and the increasing interconnectivity of the global economy.

With recent Australia Post data revealing e-commerce volumes are continuing to soar, with 73.1 per cent more purchases made online in 2021 than pre-pandemic in 2019 – it’s no surprise that Australian businesses are also struggling with the rapid rise.

Respondents were united in their view that digitisation is a strategic priority this year, with digitisation and process automation the highest priority for 84 per cent of all businesses.

While an overwhelming majority cited digitisation as the top priority, only a minority of businesses use automated, paperless end-to-end processes

34 | MHD JUNE 2022

Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking 2022 report reveals the global perspectives on supply chain complexity and performance. throughout their supply chain – highlighting the opportunities for major process improvements utilising stateof-the-art technology.

“It is clear that organisations are aware that digitisation and process automation will be key to success over the coming months, and we’re working with a number of household names across the APAC region to transform their operation with Körber’s portfolio of software and automation solutions,” Anthony Beavis, Managing Director ANZ at Körber Supply Chain says.

Some of Körber Supply Chain APAC’s client portfolio include Catch.com.au, Kmart, Super Retail Group, Officeworks and Chemist Warehouse.

“Many of Australia’s largest retailer providers recognise that they need to act now, and have embarked on their digitisation journey with us,” Anthony says.

From agile warehouse automation,

to WMS implementations, to microfulfilment capabilities – Körber has been helping to transform the supply chain and retail landscape in Australia with the latest technology and operational improvements.

In early 2022, after a threeyear tender process, Super Retail Group, one of Australia’s largest retailers, selected Körber Supply Chain’s K. Motion Warehouse Advantage Warehouse Management System as the future foundation of its omni-channel operations.

One of the key differentiators for Super Retail Group was the opportunity to explore not only Körber’s WMS capabilities, but Körber’s larger portfolio of services and improvements as the leading retailer continues to grow at record pace.

“We’re really excited to explore our partnership further with Körber,

particularly with some of the automation tech in their portfolio.

We have a lot of areas in the business where automation could be a good fit and this first step with the new WMS will put us in a great position to strengthen our partnership further across different products and workstreams,” Patrick Fountain, General Manager Supply Chain Strategy at Super Retail Group says.

SUSTAINABILITY IS A KEY PRIORITY Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking Report 2022 was divided into six operational areas: Labour engagement, efficiency and safety, end customer experience, sustainability, agility and resilience, digitisation and process automation and facility optimisation.

Based on this, participating companies were grouped into the following maturity levels: leader, advanced, developing and initiating. Of this, 35 per cent were identified as “leaders” (top performers), differentiated with future-proof processes.

Sustainability was also a key theme

From agile warehouse automation, to WMS implementations, to micro-fulfilment capabilities – Körber has been helping to transform supply chains.

“

MHD SUPPLY CHAIN

The global research demonstrates that companies recognise increasing supply chain complexities and are acting to leverage the potential of the digital era.

There is a growing awareness that many challenges can be overcome, and competitive advantage gained, with supply chain technology.

”

of the report, with 89 per cent of businesses citing it as a top priority and leading companies revealing they are three times more likely to shift to more sustainable packaging materials and four times more likely than advanced companies to implement circular economy projects.

Digitisation and process automation was recognised as the highest priority for 84 per cent of all businessees taking part in the benchmarking survey.

GAINING A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE Körber’s Supply Chain Benchmarking 2022 report demonstrates that companies recognise increasing supply chain complexities and are starting to act to leverage the potential of the new digital era.

“The global research demonstrates that companies recognise increasing supply chain complexities and are acting to leverage the potential of the digital era. There is a growing awareness that many challenges can be overcome, and competitive advantage gained, with supply chain technology. We look forward to working with Australia’s largest retailers and logistics providers to help them gain a competitive advantage with the latest technology and software,” Anthony Beavis, Managing Director ANZ at Körber Supply Chain says. ■

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MHD TRANSPORTATION

WEIGHING LOADS AND COSTS

Mettler Toledo tells MHD what sorts of weighbridge solutions it now offers its clients and how data and automation play pivotal roles in helping companies monitor their trucks’ loads and ensuring they abide by government regulations.

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ettler Toledo provides weighbridges and scales to many industries. In the supply chain and logistics space, this includes warehouses, bulk haulage, and distribution centres along with the weighing of bulk-freight moving over the railway network.

Many use a weighbridge as a large cash register and sell bulk products by weight. e.g., iron ore, aggregates, grain, etc.

Hence, if the weighbridge is not working accurately, then considerable products may be given away. Such “product giveaways” can quickly add up to many thousands of dollars slipping out of the company’s bottom-line.

As well as this “cash register” type application, the logistics industry is increasingly installing weighbridges at the exit of warehouses and distribution centres to assist in making sure vehicles leaving sites are optimally and legally loaded to their allowable gross and axle weight.

CHANGES METTLERTOLEDO HAS SEEN John Beard, Business Area Manager for Weighbridge Solutions at METTLER TOLEDO Australia/New Zealand has worked in the design, development, and manufacture of weighbridges during his tenure of almost 30 years.

He has seen several thousand weighbridges being installed in many industrial segments throughout ANZ. He says it’s clear in the freight and logistics arena there’s no such thing as “one solution fits all” and over the years he’s noticed a growing interest in the weighbridge’s accuracy.

He explains how weighbridge technologies vary, and as a manufacturer, Mettler Toledo has invested its research and development funds into developing technologies that increase accuracy and uptime over a much longer timeframe.

The collection of accuracy and

The logistics industry is increasingly installing weighbridges at the exit of warehouses and distribution centres to assist in making sure vehicles leaving sites are optimally and legally loaded to their allowable gross and axle weight. reliability data over several thousand weighing installations has categorically proved this fact. Many clients make the observations themselves when looking at the frequency of faults and repairs on the older style technologies that are still promoted by many on the market, John says.

He notes it’s common in the industry – over time – for a weighbridge to lose accuracy. This can result in product giveaway, or overloaded trucks leaving sites unknowingly. Having access to technology that greatly reduces this is providing the industry with more confidence in its long-term accuracy of its weighing equipment.

The other major trend Mettler Toledo has observed in the last five years has been a pivot towards speed and automation.

EFFECT ON SUPPLY CHAIN MEMBERS Mettler Toledo has seen distribution centres getting larger resulting in a greater number of trucks leaving sites. “People are looking to increase the efficiency of their processes during manufacturing, production, and distribution. They want things to be done quickly, accurately, and safely,” John says.

“There is an increasing percentage of the market that are very keen to weigh the trucks, not to sell by weight,” he explains. “But to make sure they are legally and safely loaded to go on the road.”

This is driven by what is called the Chain of Responsibility (CoR), guidelines the federal government has provided, which applies to the supply chain and logistics industry nationwide. It ensures organisations comply with loading rules and John says the guidelines are increasingly supported by industry.

The federal government is installing checking stations to ensure trucks are not overloaded on their axles or gross weight. The relevant government department will take drivers off the road to weigh their axles, and if it finds the driver’s load doesn’t correspond with its guidelines, they can prosecute and even remove their licence.

“There are considerable fines to be issued if you are not complying, and the chances of being caught by the government are now increasing because they’re putting more focus into this important safety topic,” John explains.

There are several reasons as to why the governments around the world have increased focus in compliance to legally loaded trucks. The first and main issue MHD JUNE 2022 | 37

MHD TRANSPORTATION is the safety of both organisation’s employees and members of the public.

When a truck is overloaded, several safety issues arise such as an inability to stop as quickly as necessary and being much more prone to rolling over.

This obviously increases the likelihood of accidents that could cause serious injuries or even death for both the truck drivers and other drivers on the road, John says.

Overloaded axles are also one of the main causes of damage to roads and highways, underground services, bridges, drains, and sewers, he adds. This damage creates further potential safety hazards for all road users. “There is clear evidence documented globally that an overloaded vehicle does considerable damage to infrastructure,” John says.

“The government isn’t interested in just knowing what the truck weighs.

They want to know where the weight is distributed on the truck, because that’s why a lot of the damage occurs.”

He notes companies want to optimise the load and carry as much on a truck as possible. An example he gives is related to long haul trips, such as one from Melbourne to Brisbane.

He says if a driver can legally fit an extra two pallets on every trip, this increase efficiency adds up over time.

Many trucks travel too light to make sure overloading doesn’t occur and without a weighing device aren’t able to properly judge the weight and are missing out on this opportunity to increase their efficiency, while also abiding by government regulations and guidelines.

More and more companies are now complying with the CoR. John says many organisations that previously weren’t interested in weighing their vehicles now do so to ensure their whole organisation is safe.

Some companies still require education regarding CoR, as they aren’t always necessarily aware of the regulations.

John says companies began to install devices more than a decade ago in larger distribution centres where hundreds of trucks were leaving from 5:30am.

“There was no way of knowing what was on the load, they were essentially just trying to tally what was going in the back of the truck, but there was no way to calculate where the weight was distributed,” John explains.

38 | MHD JUNE 2022

ADAPTING AND PROVIDING WEIGHING SOLUTIONS TO INDUSTRY Mettler Toledo has developed different solutions to cater for various-sized facilities. John says it depends on the throughputs in warehouses and distribution centres, as well as the number of lanes, and what volumes go in and out of the facility. He says from there a company can select a level of accuracy and traceability, previously unavailable in the industry.

There needed to be a way of speeding up the process and getting the trucks weighed and offsite quicker – this was a main criterion for improvement.

“So many of our clients are saying they don’t just want the weight, they want to validate if a truck is or isn’t overloaded before they go out,” John says.

“And if they are overloaded, there needs to be a quick and safe process that turns them around, and the load can be adjusted or redistributed before they’re let onto the road,” he adds.

These are the type of processes Mettler-Toledo says it has developed into its solutions.

“We worked with several organisations to say, ‘how could we improve that? How can we fix that?’” John says.

Mettler Toledo developed an automating process – allowing the driver to stay in the cab of the truck. The system options that can be implemented are many, from the ability to recognise the driver’s number plate, allowing the driver to interface with a touchscreen and have a printer or scanner that allows them to print necessary information.

All this information can be collected through automation. Once this step is performed, a stop-and-go system can be implemented, which either grants the driver permission to leave if the truck is fine to do so or indicates a problem such as an axle being overloaded, in which case the truck would return to have the load reassessed.

“This automated functionality cuts down the initial capital outlay of putting in a manned weighbridge office and speeds up the entire weighing process, because the drivers aren’t getting in and out of the cab on a busy site, which also reduces the safety risks that occurred previously,” John says.

The information recorded is stored

in a cloud-based data system, which Mettler-Toledo makes sure is secure, traceable, and can give management information that can be used to make good business decisions.

“As we see more cyber-attacks around the world, it reminds us data is very powerful, and as a result, we do our utmost to protect our customers’ data,” John adds.

In Australia, Mettler-Toledo has developed a device that warns drivers when their vehicle is overloaded, and it has been distributed globally.

These solutions are now available in more than 44 countries.

“We work often with our colleagues in the US, and New Zealand, and all through the Asia Pacific,” John says.

“We see trends that happened in Canada three years ago are now happening in Australia. This collaboration around the world allows us to prospectively identify trends before they happen. This is how a lot of our new products enter the marketplace and allows us to fix our customers’ problems.”

He explains if a company has a small site, it can opt for another two or three solutions at different prices to have installed instead of a regular weighbridge. They can easily be installed in a greenfield site, which is a new distribution centre while brownfield sites – facilities that are already operating – can choose an alternative solution Mettler Toledo has developed.

“If people have existing weighing devices, we can often turn it into a device that will allow them to get axle weights as well,” John says. “That’s unique to Mettler-Toledo and is a great relief to some customers that thought they were going to have to put all new equipment in and then spend a lot of money – that’s not always the case,” he adds.

Sometimes it’s a very simple conversion of existing equipment, and for those who are looking into a large full-length weighbridge, it’s not always required.

John says Mettler-Toledo has experienced consultants around Australia and New Zealand.

“I’m very fortunate to head one of those teams up at Mettler-Toledo.

And one of the main things we enjoy most is looking after our customers, so we’re always around to support if our customers need us.” ■

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MHD WAREHOUSING

MEETING TODAY’S AUTOMATION CHALLENGES

Khurshed Mirza, Director, Warehouse Automation (APAC) for OPEX, discusses the warehousing and materials handling technologies available – and coming soon – to meet the challenges of Australian warehouses and DCs.

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he need for sustainable supply chains has been brought to the forefront by the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To address this need, the evolution from manual warehousing to smart automated warehouses has had to speed up.

Sadly, tough lockdowns and the infectious spread of COVID has seen many supply chains that were reliant on manual labour crumble and fall apart.

Warehouses dependent on manual labour have been crippled for lack of manpower and stringent social distancing laws.

At the same time, we have also witnessed some businesses making record profits. These COVID success stories occurred predominantly in businesses that deployed warehouse automation.

On top of these dramatic disruptions to warehouse labour utilisation, we have also seen a dramatic shift in the buying patterns of consumers – whose behaviour has adapted suddenly in response to the pandemic and the public health measures it provoked. Consumers staying at home and forced into lockdowns quickly shifted to online buying, and – due to the relative ease of online shopping – they have become accustomed to clicking ‘Order’ on a small screen and expecting purchases to arrive on their doorsteps.

PANDEMIC A WAKE-UP CALL FOR WAREHOUSE AUTOMATION The pandemic has been a big wake-up call for many, serving as a catalyst for automation implementation in warehouses across the world. It is now more evident than ever that automation enables businesses to create robust and sustainable supply chains.

Science and technology have 40 | MHD JUNE 2022

progressed by leaps and bounds.

There are myriad automation options available to automate warehouses in varying degrees. Technological advances have resulted in many innovative new solutions, as well as rendering existing automation solutions more and more affordable.

Yet we still see a lot of warehouses persisting in running manual operations.

It’s apparent that some business owners and investors remain hesitant in adopting even a modest degree of automation in their warehouses. This hesitation is not limited to certain regions, either. Many warehouses in both developed and developing countries resist the call to automate.

With the practical case for automation more forceful than ever, and automation technology more affordable than ever, what accounts for such inertia?

There are various possible explanations, of course.

One of the primary reasons for continuing with manual-only warehouse operations is a basic – and very understandable – fear of the unknown.

But such natural fears are exacerbated by some common misconceptions.

It’s vital that we – not only OPEX, but the whole logistics and supply chain industry, too – tackle these misconceptions head-on. Because automation is indispensable to the future flourishing of supply chains everywhere, to speak nothing of securing the livelihoods of individuals and businesses.

A common misconception is that automation is too expensive. Another misconception is that automation takes jobs away from humans. Some other common fears include: • fear regarding the large initial capital investment;

• not knowing where to start; • lack of knowledge/accurate information; • misconception that entire warehouse needs to be automated – or nothing at all.

To some, technology is daunting.

People often wonder whether automation is too complicated. ‘How will we manage this?’ ‘Will we need very highly skilled resources to run such complicated automation?’ ‘What if the existing workforce is not able to learn new technology methods?’

Then there is the fear of change, unwillingness to change, unwillingness to move out of your comfort zone, and – from an operations perspective – the fear of interruption to existing operations.

Such fears are compounded by a fear of not having proper after-sale support and ending with a ‘white elephant’.

Lack of proper skills within an organisation, issues in ROI calculations, missing out capturing hidden costs that occur in manual operations are other reasons for this hesitancy in adopting automation.

OPEX DELIVERING NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES OPEX prides itself in developing next generation innovative technologies. The beauty is in its simplicity. There is no single point of failure in our equipment.

There is in-built redundancy that results in a significantly higher machine uptime as compared to conventional competitive solutions. OPEX technologies also consume significantly less electric energy when they run. OPEX offer scalable, flexible and very reliable warehouse automation solutions.

Labour cost savings – automation enables a smarter way to deploy/

MHD WAREHOUSING

allocate labour, particularly with the unpredictable peak seasons and demand fluctuations. Work that would take tens of workers in multiple shifts could be completed efficiently with less labour in a shorter time. Just throwing more labour where the order fulfilment demand is strongly growing does not necessarily work even if the labour rates are low as per the laws of diminishing returns.

Shortage of skilled labour – the recent COVID-19 pandemic has been a classic wake up call for may businesses. We have seen FCs that had some level of automation were significantly better off than the ones that were completely manual. Some may argue that a pandemic is once in a century disruption – but ageing population, migration of labour, and a new generation moving away from tedious manual jobs will always be present, and businesses need to account for this in ensuring

long term business sustainability.

Scalability – key to business success is smart investments, flexibility to scale up the automation is vital in reducing the initial capital investment and having automation that can be scaled up easily as the business grows.

Optimised utilisation of warehouse space – optimising not only the foot-print but also the vertical height of the warehouse is absolutely essential in ensuring that the real estate cost is most efficiently utilised. MFC that enable last mile delivery are usually located in densely populated metropolitan areas where the real estate cost is very high. Optimised utilisation of the warehouse space gives you the best bang for your buck.

Speed to market – the e-commerce market is extremely competitive: speed to market is a highly desired competitive advantage to stay ahead of the competition.

Enhanced efficiencies – automation delivers enhanced efficiencies in operations that results in a direct positive bottom-line boost. Reduced cost of correcting errors and improved market credibility.

Business and environmental sustainability is front and centre of the minds of service providers and their consumers and will continue to be a key driver in the future of e-commerce.

Often people focus on materials when improving an operations’ sustainability, but many other factors contribute towards achieving sustainability. Smarter automation, like what is provided by OPEX, is extremely vital in ensuring that businesses can fulfil their orders in a reliable and consistent manner. OPEX solutions with in-built redundancies eliminate any single point of failures and significantly enhance business continuity and reliability. All OPEX machines are not only manufactured using 100 per cent renewable electrical energy but also designed to consume significantly less electrical power when they run. Typically, Typically, OPEX’s Sure Sort automated put wall would consume around 2500W and OPEX Perfect Pick goods-to-person solution would consume around 5000W of electric power. We pride ourselves in cutting edge environment sustainability.

Automation allows businesses to do more with less by working smarter. ■

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the unique needs of our customer’s operation

capacitors as they navigate the system,

and site footprint.

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OPEX and the Infinity solution deliver all these and more. OPEX® Infinity™ goods-

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They also recharge with their ultra-

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be used for micro-fulfilment,

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safety system allows users to take part

omni-channel distribution, store

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of the grid down for maintenance while

replenishment and e-commerce.

Engineered for unlimited flexibility and scalability in throughput and storage, the Infinity system’s configurable racking design accommodates various site layouts and workflows to maximise your operation’s output.

This technology was created as a result of our continuous innovation where our focus is on engineering exciting new solutions

the rest of the system remains operational to limit downtime.

The smart, triple-deep storage configuration provides dense storage capability.

Infinity uses OPEX’s iBOT autonomous robot vehicles that travel along a

The Infinity solution was designed to

Powered by the OPEX Cortex™ software platform, the Infinity goods-to-person system significantly reduces reliance on labour, optimising your operation from inventory management to order picking.

It should be noted that the OPEX Infinity

modular racking design to deliver totes to

system, while currently offered

decoupled presentation ports.

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Since they travel under the racks, they have

the near future.

MHD JUNE 2022 | 41

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MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

LOWA LIGHTS UP WITH HELP FROM TOYOTA FORKLIFTS A

Reliability and sustainability of Toyota forklifts help Lowa Lighting go from strength to strength.

ustralian-owned lighting manufacturer Lowa Lighting has used the class-leading reliability and sustainability of Toyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) forklifts to help grow its thriving business.

Based in Sydney, Lowa Lighting was founded in 2010 and has steadily grown its business with a focus on sustainable products and business practices.

Starting out with a single forklift, Lowa Lighting now boasts a fleet of eight machines, including five Toyota 8FG gas forklifts, two Toyota 8FBE18 electric forklifts and a Toyota RRE140 electric reach truck.

Since its beginning, Lowa Lighting has relied on TMHA forklifts to ensure consistent and reliable warehouse operation, with the zero operating emissions of Toyota’s electric forklifts a major factor for Lowa Lighting.

Lowa Lighting National Sales Manager Anthony Galimi says the company would be looking to expand its premises in the future and will be getting in touch with TMHA national sales manager Michael Tsougranis to source more electric forklifts for its new facility.

“We’re looking to add more machines as we move premises, and we want to grow with Toyota, we want zero operating emission electric forklifts so I’ll sit down with Mick and look at ways we can improve our efficiency and increase our sustainability footprint,” Anthony says.

“With our forklifts going all-electric, they’re a good partner to have.”

It is no coincidence that Lowa Lighting has exclusively used TMHA forklifts since its inception, with the service of Mick’s team and the legendary reliability of Toyota forklifts both major reasons for the company’s extended patronage.

“I think what I like best about

Lowa Lighting National Sales ManagerAnthony Galimi.

Toyota is the service, and the quality and reliability of the machinery,” Anthony says “They don’t break down when you use them, and the service team and people behind the brand are really good.

The manoeuvrability and easy use of Toyota forklifts were also a big factor for Anthony, with the perfect forklift available for just about any use.

“The turning circle is tight, different sizes fit, they’ve got all different types to suit our needs,” he says. “They’re very adaptable.”

Mick Tsougranis says Lowa Lighting was likely initially attracted to TMHA due to Anthony’s family involvement in the Sydney Markets, where Toyota forklifts are abundant.

The strong relationship between Lowa Lighting and TMHA extends to a personal friendship between Anthony and Mick.

“If there’s any sort of problem he’s out here right away. If you need another machine, it’s no problem, he returns your call straight away.

“He’s a really nice guy, a top bloke.

I’d recommend him to anybody, he’s

very knowledgeable, I’m very happy to work with him.”

Lowa Lighting wants to purchase more battery-electric forklifts and move to a bigger premises because it wishes to increase local employment by bringing more of its manufacturing capability home to Australia. In coming years, it plans to accelerate its local manufacturing capabilities in Sydney, shifting production from China to bring jobs home and offer Australianmade products.

“We believe in our product, in Australian-made, it’s very important,” Anthony says.

Anthony started Lowa Lighting in 2010 with business partner Sal Maresca, starting out in Sal’s basement before moving to a small office in Baulkham Hills offering a single Australian-made down light.

Lowa acquired its first warehouse two years ago in Olympic Park, and now employs more than 30 people. ■ To contact TMHA freecall 1800 425 438 or visit www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au MHD JUNE 2022 | 43

MHD MATERIALS HANDLING

TMHA WELCOMES NEW APPRENTICES

Toyota Material Handling Australia’s Annual Apprentice Intake is a grassroots initiative fostering development of in-demand skills. MHD delves in to the 2022 intake.

T

oyota Material Handling Australia (TMHA) has welcomed one of its biggest crops of forklift technician apprentices in its 2022 Annual Apprentice Intake, with 15 new inductees brought into the program.

As ever, competition for spots in the Annual Apprentice Intake was extremely fierce, with the 15 apprentices chosen from a field of around 875 applicants.

The grassroots initiative fosters the development of in-demand skills that will provide the new forklift technician apprentices with valuable expertise, affording strong employment opportunities with plentiful room for growth within the company.

An induction ceremony on April 21 saw the 15 new apprentices attend accompanied by mentors from their respective TMHA branches, where they were welcomed by senior TMHA executives including president CEO Steve Takacs.

Held at the TMHA Customer Experience Centre in Moorebank, NSW, the meet-and-greet was followed by a safety overview, a presentation on Toyota history, values and expectations, and a tour of the headquarters.

After a lunch together, Steve then presented the new apprentices with their tools of the trade, marking a significant investment directly to the inductees.

Apprentices were invited to stay at the Rydges of Campbelltown hotel on the night of April 20, complete with a casual dinner with executives.

The 15 successful applicants will be distributed to TMHA branches across Australia – in Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Albury, Launceston and Gladstone.

The four-year program now educates roughly 55 apprentices and has been successfully run by TMHA since 2007.

TMHA national manager - LEAN Management and After Sales

TMHA has welcomed one of its biggest crops of forklift technician apprentices in its 2022 Annual Apprentice Intake, with 15 new inductees brought into the program.

Evaluation Cert, Gerry Larney, says the apprenticeship program was the perfect way to integrate new talent into the TMHA world.

“It’s really beneficial to our business,” Gerry says.

“We use the apprenticeship program to grow our skillset and forklift technician base – it’s been really successful for us.”

Gerry adds that the retention rate for TMHA apprentices was much higher than the national average, showing the success of the program.

TMHA apprentices sit 10-15 per cent above the national apprentice retention rate, helped in part by the large scope for growth within the company.

Gerry notes there are multiple avenues to career growth for apprentices, with many forging strong careers at TMHA. “We have staff that started their apprenticeship at Toyota who are still with us 30 years later,” he says.

“And they’ve branched out into service managers, branch managers, sales managers. It’s a great

career path within Toyota.

“There are almost no barriers to where they can go in the business. If they have the skillsets that add on to their technician qualifications, they can go anywhere.

“Our President and CEO Steve Takacs was a forklift technician in this business in the early 80s and worked his way all the way up.”

Even Gerry himself started as an apprentice forklift technician - albeit in his native Ireland - before climbing up the ladder to the leadership position he is currently in.

Apprentices receive thorough and well-rounded training with supervision from skilled mentors and are cycled through every aspect of the service business for a truly holistic learning experience.

Toyota has run the apprenticeship program in-house for the last 15 years, focusing on a safe work environment, while imparting the correct skills and knowledge to apprentices, while also supporting their TAFE schooling over a 4 year period. ■

44 | MHD JUNE 2022

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16/05/2022 11:01

MHD PROPERTY FOCUS

INDUSTRIAL & LOGISTICS PRICING OUTLOOK

A

In this month’s column, Colliers provides MHD with an in-depth analysis of the pricing of industrial real estate assets.

round the globe, several key economic thematics have emerged that have the potential to impact the pricing of real estate assets. Australia’s industrial and logistics sector is not immune to these risks as inflationary pressure and a higher interest rate environment have the potential to impact asset pricing and investment decisions going forward.

Over the past quarter, the industrial yield compression cycle has slowed; however, the good news for the sector is that income growth is at its highest level in decades, supporting asset pricing and will drive asset performance over the next five years.

INFLATIONARY PRESSURE IS UNDERPINNING RISES IN INTEREST RATES AND BORROWING COST Headline inflation has increased sharply over the past six months, reaching 5.1 per cent year on year to March 2022 – the fastest pace of annual inflation since the introduction of the GST in 2000. Supply chain disruptions have been a critical cog in this upward movement, and given these disruptions are expected to persist for at least the next 12 months given the backlog at

Real 10-year Bonds vs. National Prime Industrial Yield key ports, further pressure on inflation is expected and could exceed 7.0 per cent by Q3 2022.

Off the back of this, interest rates which provide a crucial backdrop to real estate pricing have begun to increase, and the view is that they will reach 1.5 per cent or higher by Christmas.

Borrowing costs were already heading north before the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) recent decision and commercial loan rates now range between 2.5 per cent and 4.5 per cent, while the weighted average cost of debt for the REIT sector measured 3.1 per cent in December 2021. Given the outlook for further rate rises,

commercial loan rates are expected to follow a similar path.

Nominal bond yields have also shifted higher off the back of higher rate expectations from the RBA with the 10-year Government bond yield more than tripling from the low point of 0.82 per cent in October 2020 to its current ~3.5 per cent. Notwithstanding this, the real risk-free rate (Government bonds adjusted for inflation) remains low at close to 0.0 per cent, and while the spread to industrial yields is lower than historical averages, industrial and logistics assets have been re-priced given the strong macro tailwinds recorded in recent years and historical averages are no longer relevant.

Nonetheless, the rise in bond yields and interest rates will undoubtedly limit further yield compression within the sector.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN FOR INDUSTRIAL AND LOGISTICS YIELDS?

Headline Inflation by Country 46 | MHD JUNE 2022

Concerns surrounding rising interest rates are causing investors to assess their underwriting, particularly for core investments in the $100 million or above price bracket due to the higher

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

prevalence of financing. As a result, we expect the impacts on industrial and logistics yields will be two-tiered, with sharper pricing expected for assets with shorter lease expiry profiles, providing the ability for investors to capture imminent rental growth upside.

With both interest rates and borrowing costs increasing, the yield compression cycle appears to be over and there are likely to be cases and markets where some cap rate expansion may occur. However, we do not anticipate a blowout of yields but rather a 25-50 basis point softening in most cases and markets while selected markets are likely to see greater yield reversion where the depth of capital is more limited. The reality is that there remains a significant volume of unsatisfied capital in the order of $50 billion looking to be placed in the sector, which will support asset pricing well below historical averages.

While rising debt costs are now front and centre of investors’ investment strategies, the impacts on pricing will also be mitigated to some extent given low gearing levels through conservative debt management, including highinterest cover ratios. Generally, gearing levels within the listed sector now average ~30.0 per cent, which is well below the 50 per cent or more gearing levels recorded pre-GFC. Similarly, with higher interest rates impacting levered returns, cash-focused buyers are expected to be active and competitive in transactions.

SHORT WALE ASSETS TO BE FAVOURED While demand for long WALE assets is expected to remain strong from longer-term investors (including super funds), there has been a noticeable shift in demand for industrial and logistics assets with a shorter lease expiry profile, given the ability to drive rents and capture positive rental reversions sooner.

To highlight the shift in demand, we have analysed the average WALE of transactions since 2020. In 2020 and 2021, the average WALE for assets to trade was 9.9 years and 7.3 years, respectively and reflected demand for longer WALE assets at the time, given the security of income they provided in a period of economic uncertainty.

Average WALE of assets to trade by year Alternatively, of the transactions to occur so far in 2022, the average WALE measured just 4.3 years.

For shorter WALE assets, prospective purchasers will be willing to pay a low initial yield given the immediate upside in rents and subsequently, some modest compression in yields could occur for these assets.

“

Inflationary pressure is underpinning rises in interest rates and borrowing costs.

”

INCOME TO DRIVE ASSET PERFORMANCE OVER THE NEXT FIVE YEARS Fundamentals within the occupier market remain favourable and income growth is expected to be the primary driver behind asset performance over the next five years. Investors recognise the income potential and are offsetting increased capital costs and inflation risk by underwriting rental growth of 7.0 per cent or more in most markets. In the 12 months to Q1 2022, prime rents grew by almost 10.0 per cent at a national level and similar rates of rental growth are forecast over the next two years.

History suggests that rental growth

tends to accelerate during times of high inflation. This is the case given that most rental agreements are tied to inflation and carry an inbuilt hedge. While industrial rental data is not available for the 1970s and 1980s when inflation averaged 8.0 per cent (reaching a high of 17.7 per cent in March 1975), CBD office data highlights the impacts on rents through this period. Between 1970 and 1990, net face rents for Sydney CBD office assets increased by 10.9 per cent per annum on average while through the early to mid-1980s, rental growth in excess of 25 per cent was recorded for some years. Rental growth for the Melbourne CBD was even more pronounced at 12.2 per cent per annum over the same period.

In summary, our view is that rising interest rates will have modest impacts on industrial and logistics values in 2022 through a modest softening of cap rates. However, the pick-up in rents is expected to offset this and asset values are expected to be preserved. Our analysis shows that if yields were to soften by 25 basis points, a ~7.0 per cent increase in rents would be needed to preserve asset values which are well under the forecast rental increases in most markets in 2022. Well-capitalized buyers with strong lending relationships who can get aggressive debt pricing will have an advantage in this rising interest rate environment. ■

To find out more about Colliers research and how we can maximise the potential of property for your business, contact a Colliers experts today.

MHD JUNE 2022 | 47

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TURNING AUTOMATION INVESTMENT INTO OPERATIONAL EXCELLENCE Prological’s Peter Jones shares the key parameters and considerations for businesses looking to automate logistics and supply chain operations.

W

hile automation has played a role in supply chains for some time, the technology is more accessible and affordable than ever before. Shifting consumer habits have forced many businesses’ hand – a higher level of urgency in e-commerce retail has lent itself to the adoption of lower price point technology especially, such as Automated Mobile Robots (AMRs).

A recent report by research and consulting firm Gartner highlighted ‘hyper-automation’ as its top trend of last year. The combination of technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation are being used in place of human judgement, with businesses delegating more and more authority of decision making to intelligent applications.

Peter Jones, Managing Director of Prological, says lessons can be learnt from the mistakes made by some early adopters of automation.

“When we start to explore what went wrong, it’s never the automation which doesn’t work,” he says. “It’s always that a business didn’t fully understand what they actually needed when they started out on their journey, so they didn’t end up with what was best for the task at hand.”

In order to prepare for a change to automation, Peter says it’s crucial to not skip the groundwork on fully understanding the requirements of a business for the present and future.

This includes a factor which is often

“

In order to prepare for a change to automation, Peter says it’s crucial to not skip the groundwork on fully understanding the requirements of a business for the present and future.

This includes a factor which is often overlooked: adapting the culture of an organisation to fit automated operations.

”

overlooked: adapting the culture of an organisation to fit automated operations.

Working with computers and intelligent software means many old business disciplines will become redundant. When an entire warehouse becomes more IT-heavy, automating the issuing and control of orders and inventory and the operational and functional tasks, the staff need to reflect this change.

“The skills and type of people required for a manual picking environment or more traditional environment is very different to the optimum employees in an automated warehouse environment,” Peter adds. “There’s a lot more people

interaction in a traditional warehouse, so for people who need that human interaction to maintain high productivity rates, an automation environment is going to be more difficult. People who are happy to spend a day with themselves and work at high cadence, doing reasonably repetitive tasks will thrive.”

Peter believes there’s a greater pool of workers for automated environment than a high productivity, manual environment, but businesses moving to automation need to embed the mindset into operations while preparing for the changes in tasks for those transitions, and for the changes in personnel for those who find the transition too challenging.

ACCESSING THE RIGHT DATA When dealing with advanced technology, data should be robust, accurate and easily accessible. Sometimes having access to mountains of data means the numbers contain errors and inaccuracies.

Another problem faced is the amount of time and resources being consumed in collating and reporting data all the while failing to convert this data into the information required for evidence-based decision making and tangible actions.

“So you’ve got to have that product information, master data file, really tight and accurate before you start and there’s time efficient and cost efficient ways of doing that,” says Peter.

Data on every Stock Keeping Unit (SKU) must be correct, that means the history, sales, forecast, and dimensional MHD JUNE 2022 | 49

data need to be considered before the automation investigation and investment journey begins.

“If you’re dealing with tens of thousands of SKUs, estimations can end up happening, running averages against family groups, which compromises outcomes,” he notes. “Trying to do that within the project when dealing with deadlines and suppliers is sub-optimal.

Knowing the dimensional data of the product is crucial because you need to know how big your automation system is volumetrically by unit. You also must have a really good understanding of your sales profile at an SKU level in order to work out the hit rates and frequencies of the pick against all of your SKUs.”

BENCHMARKING OPERATIONS The vendor space continues to grow, offering advanced technological expertise, but any vendor will never be able to understand the ins and outs of a business like those within your organisation.

By being completely prepared for automation, vendors will be able to provide the solutions customised your specific operations and goals.

“We’ve seen businesses fall into the trap of thinking automation will be a silver bullet for business transformation,” Peter says.

“There’s no silver bullet in supply chain operations, which is why it’s important to benchmark against their own business case rather than listen solely to the vendors.”

For businesses looking to ramp up their already-automated operations, Peter notes that benchmarking is difficult. Prological’s recent work with a large B2C client has shown that because automation is new and rapidly changing, external benchmarking is not only difficult due to a lack of case studies, but can also quickly become irrelevant and outdated because the technology is evolving so fast.

“Most of the early adopters have already recognised that if they’ve done more work, had better data, engaged in some external third-party input rather than just listening to sales teams on the systems, they would have had a better outcome than what they have,” he says. “This isn’t to say the technology investment hasn’t been worth it for these companies, but the solution could have been very different if it was designed to 50 | MHD JUNE 2022

Working with computers and intelligent software means many old business disciplines will become redundant. an optimised baseline. Many have ended up with a good outcome when great was available. We advise businesses to know and understand what can be achieved by optimising what is already available, before starting to build business cases and ROIs based on where you are now.”

A BUSINESS PLAN FOR THE FUTURE Any organisation thinking of investing in automation needs a strong, robust business plan. Prological has found that automation investments require 10–15year life cycles to ensure a solid ROI, but planning for this needs long term forecasts and justifiable projections into the medium to long term.

“The reduction in operation expenditure is what makes automation really attractive,” Peter says. “But because the project is so capital expenditure-heavy, you actually have to plan your automation on a much longer horizon than what businesses are typically prepared to forecast to.”

No one has a crystal ball into the future, but if businesses fail to cater for growth and change, fail to build in dexterity and agility, the fruits of their investment gets left behind.

“Once you’ve installed most automation systems, it costs 60 or 70 per cent of the value of the equipment to move it somewhere else. AMRs are the exception and one of their features is

their ability to move,” Peter notes. “So, if you have actually underspecified what you want, and the business continues to grow, you can’t easily pick up automated systems and move them and add them onto a bigger facility.” Further, most systems are difficult to expand within an existing facility, particularly Auto-Store and Goods To Person (GTP) systems. If you think you may need to expand later, you need to design that in at the start.

“A whole facility plan and building plan has to be completed for now and for 10 years into the future, so that you can design in expansion and flexibility going forward.

“Relying on internal expertise is extremely challenging to avoid any mistakes and find the best direction in a rapidly developing industry,” he says.

“My hope is that in ten years’ time I’m no longer walking into businesses which have spent tens of millions of dollars and failed to get it right.”

As a consulting firm, Prological would much rather be working with clients at the start to get the design and dexterity right, rather than working out how to get the best out of a sub-optimal situation a few years down the track. ■ To view Prological’s new whitepaper, “A guide to operational excellence”, use the QR code.

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MHD MENTORING

SCLAA’S MENTORS GUIDING MENTEES MHD speaks to SCLAA members and mentors, Brett McGowran, Supply Chain Deployment Director at Schneider Electric and Rakesh Bandipelli, Supply Chain Manager at La Marzocco about their experiences as mentors to newcomers and those moving within the supply chain and logistics industry. They also reveal what the SCLAA Mentorship Program entails.

T

he Supply Chain & Logistics Association of Australia (SCLAA) offers mentorships for those working in the industry who wish to gain expertise and progress their career, or for recent graduates or those who are looking to enter the supply chain and logistics industry.

SCLAA says the role of the mentee involves being responsible for driving the relationship and scheduling meetings with the mentor.

It adds that the benefits of the mentorship are one-on-one coaching from an experienced mentor; gaining a sharper focus on what is needed to grow professionally; that the mentorship complements ongoing formal study and/ or training and development activities; mentees receive assistance with ideas and honest feedback; and increasing their career networks.

Brett McGowran, Supply Chain Deployment Director at Schneider Electric has been mentoring up to four people every year since 2009 when he started his first senior role.

Rakesh Bandipelli, Supply Chain Manager at La Marzocco has been mentoring the same number of people for just as long.

Brett says mentees need somebody trustworthy who they can ask for advice.

He recommends university students and graduates, or anyone entering the workforce for the first time, would certainly gain valuable insights from the mentoring program.

He also adds that someone who may be promoted at their current workplace, or may be changing roles or functions, or are moving over to another organisation, will benefit from a mentorship.

“People that are seeking a deeper

52 | MHD JUNE 2022

understanding of a specialised skillset can seek out a mentor to help them,” Brett says. “And anybody who just wants to develop themselves and have the benefit of someone independent to support them on their personal development journey.”

He notes there are mutual benefits from the mentor-mentee relationship.

Mentors can develop greater connections to different industries or internal departments across larger organisations, and in different functions, Brett says.

“Mentors can better understand how different generations tick,” he explains.

“You often notice there’s a significant age gap between the mentor and mentee. Mentees often seek out far more experienced, more senior individuals.”

He says the difference in age enables mentors to get to know and understand younger employees better and recognise what motivates them. Additionally, he says it gives mentors an insight into the new ways younger people want to work, especially during the pandemic, and reveals what career development opportunities they’re seeking.

The younger mentee usually exposes the mentor to new digital technologies that they’re using during their day-today lives or at work, notes Brett.

He says it’s valuable for mentees to receive open and honest feedback.

Mentors also can provide the mentee with specific knowledge and skills to support their early development and increase their visibility in an organisation as well as help them with networking.

Rakesh says SCLAA has been running its mentorship program for the past three or four years. He says it strengthens the mentee’s confidence

Rakesh Bandipelli, Supply Chain Manager at La Marzocco and SCLAA mentor.

“

I’ve seen all these young graduates coming from universities and working with me for six months, and the amount of energy and this new talent they’ve got. They look at things differently.

”

and allows industry experts in their fields to give back.

He adds that anyone who is studying supply chain or is in the industry but would like to know more, should apply for a mentorship.

He says he still has a mentor although

“ Brett McGowran, Supply Chain Deployment Director at Schneider Electric and SCLAA mentor.

he’s been working in the supply chain industry for 10-odd years.

“It gives you technical knowledge and exposure to a different style of leadership,” Rakesh explains.

It’s important for mentees to learn about navigating a new organisation, knowing what their new job role entails, and how to deal with various workplacerelated situations and different personalities, Brett explains.

He adds that it’s also important for mentors to be sounding boards and to teach mentees about devising strategies to help them manage complex workloads and manage life in an organisation.

“As I got older, I realised that I really wanted to give back,” Brett says about mentoring.

“I’m attracted to people who take initiative, especially when it comes to their own personal development,” he says about anyone who may be interested in choosing him as a mentor.

“I like to help people entering the workforce as first-time people that are early in their careers, just to help them ensure that they build good communication skills, broader networks across the business, and deeper skillsets in their immediate function that they’re employed in,” Brett explains.

“I think it’s important when you’re young to get deep competence in one or two areas before you take on promotions that really dilute your ability to remain technically involved.”

Brett says this year’s SCLAA’ program is nine-months long and involves six one-hour sessions, negotiated

I like to help people entering the workforce as first-time people that are early in their careers, just to help them ensure that they build good communication skills, broader networks across the business, and deeper skillsets in their immediate function that they’re employed in.

”

at a mutually suitable time between mentor and mentee.

“My experience, however, is that sometimes these relationships can last much, much longer,” Brett says.

“Where I work, we try to establish a 12-month relationship. And in some cases, we see them persisting for much longer than that.

“I know people that have retired and still talk to mentees that they had 20 years ago. As a group, we have access to 100s and 1000s of industry leaders and specialists that we can draw upon.

“There’s a matching process and depending on what they’re trying to get out of it, we will seek to have a mentor that’s relevant to their immediate interests,” he says about mentees.

The meetings have been via videoconference for the past two years due to the pandemic, but this is changing and now mentees have the option once again of face-to-face meetings with their mentors.

“Some states choose to have a formal launch,” Brett notes as he comments on how the mentorships are run in different states and territories across the country.

“They have a breakfast or lunch, where the mentors and mentees come, and we launch the program formally.”

Rakesh, like Brett, says the mentoring relationship is now long term.

He says the launch event is sometimes at the end of July or early August while the closing ceremony is in March the following year. All the mentors are volunteers and

MHD MENTORING have full-time work elsewhere.

He explains that from his experience over the past four years, the idea that only mentees gain from the SCLAA mentorship isn’t true.

“But they all have seen the benefits, including myself, how much value it can add, as a mentor as well, not just a mentee,” Rakesh says.

“I’ve seen all these young graduates coming from universities and working with me for six months, and the amount of energy and this new talent they’ve got. They look at things differently.”

There is also a demand by established professionals and business leaders to seek mentoring from fellow entrepreneurs and business owners.

This type of mentoring allows for the sharing of key learnings in managing a business and all the successes and pitfalls that can be encountered.

Brett says the format consists of an introduction where the mentor and mentee meet and go through a scoping exercise where they identify strengths and what can be done to improve and grow the individual.

They then define a broad overview of what their career ambitions and goals are and talk about what challenges there are – depending on the industry and the target area. He says what happens after that is entirely up to the mentor and mentee.

Brett says a mentorship provides mentees with encouragement and support from an industry leader; the mentee can use the mentorship as a strategic way to deal with academic and professional challenges; and provides some valuable insights into the future of supply chain and is a fulfilling experience for them.

The Association attracts mentors from across broad industry groups and different leadership levels, from managers through to executives and seeks registrations from all who wish to gain valuable insights into accelerating their career journey or catapult into a different sector of the supply chain and logistics industry.

Applications for the SCLAA 2022 mentoring program will open in June with an official opening event launch during the week commencing July 18.

The program will officially conclude with a closing event in the week beginning March 20, 2023. ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 53

MHD ASCI

WHAT IS ILS? PART C Lifecycle Sustainment Management

Integrated Product Support

•

Product Support Management

•

Supply Support

•

Packaging, handling, storage and information

•

Maintenance Planning and Management

Technical Management •

Design Interface

•

Sustaining Engineering

•

Technical Data

•

Computer Resources

Infrastructure Management •

Support Equipment

•

Training & Training Support

•

Manpower & Personnel (M&P)

•

Facilities & Infrastructure

Integrated Product Support diagram.

ASCI ACT Chapter President and ASCI ILS College Secretary, Gary Pearce, discusses Integrated Product Support, in this third instalment of a multi-part series.

T

he previous two issues of MHD, April and May, introduced Integrated Logistics Support (ILS). Now a change of terminology, ILS is to be replaced by Integrated Product Support (IPS), this is not to confuse or complicate the situation, just simply the changing of the guard.

Throughout the world, in particular Europe and the USA, IPS is replacing ILS, through the S-Series Specification process. In short IPS and ILS are the same, it would great if it was that simple, but in basic terms it is. The aim of the S-Series Integrated Logistics Support Specifications is to align Defence and Industry ILS/IPS requirements.

Simply, current ILS standards and procedures will continue to apply to Australian Defence for the immediate future, and IPS will relate to Industry.

However, IPS will eventually replace ILS across Defence.

Future Direction of ILS There has been no real change to ILS principles and functions since introduced way back in the 1960’s, the old phrase “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it”. Yes, over the years there has been some fine tuning, subtle changes in terminology, however

54 | MHD JUNE 2022

“

The re-framing of ILS to IPS aims to bring the focus back on the integration of all considerations which contribute to maximising the operational availability of equipment at an optimal lifecycle cost – the unwavering objective of ILS all along.

”

nothing of significance.

The S-Series Integrated Logistics Support Specifications is a suite of specifications for product support that provides for the seamless exchange of technical data (logistics, provisioning, technical publications/IETMs, scheduled maintenance and maintenance data feedback) using contemporary webbased technologies. This results in faster, more accurate and standardised analysis and decision making that encourages the conduct of Support System analysis throughout the product’s life cycle.

S-Series ILS specifications interface with other standardised domains including Program Management, Global Supply Chain Management, Engineering, Manufacturing, Security, Safety, Configuration Management, Quality, Data Exchange & Integration, and Life Cycle Costing. The aim of S-Series is to make Defence and Industry ILS/ IPS requirements compatible. The 12 IPS Elements are shown below, are in essence an extension of the 10 ILS Elements introduced in the April Issue of MHD. In principle these IPS Elements can be mapped to the ADF ILS Elements.

MHD ASCI In June of 2011, the SX000i Working Group was formed and SX000i development commenced. The original title of SX000i, (International guide for the use of the S-Series Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) specifications), was approved by the ILS Council in June of 2012. The current title of SX000i, (International specification for Integrated Product Support (IPS) specifications), was approved by the IPS Council in April 2019. SX000i Issue 3.0 released April 2021.

The “Traditional Ten” Integrated Logistics Support (ILS) Elements (refer to MHD April and May Issues) have generally been applied, accepted, and understood for many years and are still relevant and appropriate. The “New Twelve” Integrated Product Support (IPS) Elements (figure 1) are being used extensively now in Europe and the USA, and at some time in the future will be rolled out in Australia.

At first glance, the two ‘lists’ appear to be quite similar, but, both the elements themselves, and their definitions, are quite different. Hence the sunsetting of the ILS terminology in favor of a broader product life cycle supportfocused IPS term.

So, what is different? Most notably, the two new elements are “Product Support Management” and “Sustaining Engineering” include an extensive life cycle management focus, and both include activities and aspects that extend across the life cycle and often beyond the traditional logistics domain.

The twelve (12) elements of IPS are segregated into three (3) categories with four (4) elements in each, are outlined as follows:

CATEGORY 1 - LIFE CYCLE SUSTAINMENT MANAGEMENT • Product Support Management - Plan, manage, and fund weapon system product support across all Integrated Product Support (IPS) Element.

• Supply Support - Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to acquire repair parts, spares, and all classes of supply to ensure the best equipment/capability is available to support the Warfighter or maintainer when it is needed at the lowest possible Life Cycle Cost (LCC).

• Packaging, Handling, Storage, & Transportation - Identify, plan, resource, and acquire packaging/

preservation, handling, storage, and transportation requirements to maximize availability and usability of the material to include support items whenever they are needed for training or the mission.

• Maintenance Planning & Management - Identity, plan, resource, and implement maintenance concepts and requirements to ensure the best possible equipment/capability is available when the Warfighter needs it at the lowest possible LCC.

CATEGORY 2 - TECHNICAL MANAGEMENT • Design Interface - The design interface is the integration of the quantitative design characteristics of systems engineering (reliability, maintainability, etc.) with the functional IPS Elements.

• Sustaining Engineering - Sustaining Engineering spans those technical tasks (engineering and logistics investigations and analyses) to ensure continued operation and maintenance of a system with managed (i.e., known) risk.

• Technical Data - Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to develop and acquire information; • to operate, maintain, and train on the equipment to maximize its effectiveness and availability; • effectively catalogue and acquire spare/repair parts, support equipment, and all classes of supply; and • to define the configuration baseline of the system (hardware and software) to effectively support the Warfighter with the best capability at the time it is needed.

• Computer Resources - Identify, plan, resource, and acquire facilities, hardware, software, documentation, manpower, and personnel necessary for planning and management of mission-critical computer hardware and software systems.

CATEGORY 3 INFRASTRUCTURE MANAGEMENT • Support Equipment - Identify, plan, resource, and implement management actions to acquire and support the equipment (mobile or fixed) required to sustain the operation and

maintenance of the system to ensure that the system is available to the Warfighter when it is needed at the lowest LCC. • Training & Training Support - Plan, resource, and implement a cohesive integrated strategy to train military and civilian personnel to maximize the effectiveness of the doctrine, manpower, and personnel to fight, operate, and maintain the equipment throughout the life cycle.

• Manpower & Personnel Identify, plan, resource, and acquire personnel, civilian, and military, with the grades and skills required.

• Facilities & Infrastructure - Identity, plan, resource, and acquire facilities to enable training, maintenance, and storage to maximize the effectiveness of system operation and the logistic support system at the lowest LCC. Identify and prepare plans for the acquisition of facilities to enable responsive support for the Warfighter.

The aim of Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) has always been to maximise the operational availability of equipment at an optimal lifecycle cost. As a concept, all stakeholders see this aim as being sensible and completely logical.

Designers should communicate with manufacturers, who should understand their supply chain capabilities, who in turn should understand the maintenance requirements etc. to achieve optimisation.

However, over the last decade there has been a noticeable decrease in the ‘Integration’ of all considerations in product development. This failing is most often characterised by less and less data exchange at every ILS cooperative boundary as items are designed, produced, used, maintained, repaired, and disposed. Less and less are we seeing the necessary ILS specialists communicating closely with one another leading to unnecessary waste throughout the entire product life cycle. Simply, the ILS engineer is not influencing the product design to make it less costly to support.

The re-framing of ILS to IPS aims to bring the focus back on the integration of all considerations which contribute to maximising the operational availability of equipment at an optimal lifecycle cost – the unwavering objective of ILS all along. ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 55

MHD WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS

A NIGHT OF CELEBRATION AT THE WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS

Melbourne hosted the Women in Industry Awards in April, recognising exceptional women across various industries, including engineering, supply chain and logistics.

T

he Women in Industry Awards were presented in partnership with MHD Supply Chain Solutions and other Prime Creative titles to celebrate not only the winners and nominees, but all women in these industries for their commitment, diligence, and dedication.

Mining, road transport, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, bulk handling, waste management, and rail and infrastructure are all traditionally male-dominated industries.

The awards provided an opportunity to recognise the achievements and dedication of the women who work in these industries.

One of this year’s judges, Kylie Fahey, Institute of Quarrying Australia CEO, says it was a big honour to be involved in the awards.

“Anything that we can do to be showcasing the incredible roles that women play in the industry, support diversity and inclusion, and certainly looking to promote for more females to join such an incredible industry, is wonderful,” Kylie says.

Judging for the third time, Kylie noted the breadth of nominations that stood out to her this year.

“Even within the categories themselves, there’s just such a range of innovation and a range of different projects and businesses that are put forward,” Kylie adds.

“It’s wonderful to also see the levels of people that are nominating. We’ve seen everyone from leading CEOs of very large, listed companies, right through to people that are working at the coalface of health and safety work like health and safety officers. I think something that’s very refreshing about the awards is that

56 | MHD JUNE 2022

they are open to everybody.

“We are encouraging that profile of females that are working in the industry, and they’re working in such a variety of roles, and I think that’s a real strength of the process and the strength of recognising what women are doing for the industry, and equally encouraging more females to join.”

Engineers Australia CEO Dr. Bronwyn Evans was a notable double winner, taking home the Woman of the Year and

“

Anything that we can do to be showcasing the incredible roles that women play in the industry, support diversity and inclusion, and certainly looking to promote for more females to join such an incredible industry, is wonderful.

”

Excellence in Engineering awards.

BAE Systems, Excellence in Engineering category sponsor, says it was especially proud to sponsor the award.

“We have female engineers to thank for many of the world’s greatest innovations, yet they make up only 12 per cent of engineers employed in Australia,” BAE Systems says.

“Awards such as these are important

to not only celebrate achievement, but to also provide inspiration to others to break down barriers and excel in the engineering industry,” it adds.

Bronwyn says there is still more that needs to be done to increase the number of women in the industry.

“Nights like tonight are important so we can celebrate our successes,” Bronwyn says. “However, we still need to have difficult conversations about education, bias, assumptions and missed opportunities for women in industry,” she adds.

“We know we will have succeeded when women are represented 50 per cent top-to-bottom. I urge all of us here tonight to use our profiles and our influence to be role models and to be champions for the amazing women who are joining our industries and professions.”

All nominees and winners should be incredibly proud of the work they have achieved and the dedication and commitment they have shown throughout the industry.

Other winners from the evening included: • Jo Withford – Social Leader of the Year • Larissa Rose – Mentor of the Year • Stephanie O’Dwyer – Safety Advocacy • Christine Morris – Excellence in Mining • Megan McCracken – Industry Advocacy Award • Shay Chalmers – Excellence in Manufacturing • Catherine Baxter – Excellence in Transport • Lacey Webb – Business Development Success • Monique Yap – Rising Star of the Year.

MHD WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS

MEGAN MCCRACKEN WINS INDUSTRY ADVOCACY AWARD

M

egan McCracken has been honoured with the Industry Advocacy Award at this year’s Women in Industry Awards.

The event, hosted by Prime Creative Media and held on Thursday April 7 in Melbourne, celebrated outstanding women from the industrials sector – spotlighting outstanding work in mining, road transport, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, bulk handling, waste management, rail, and infrastructure.

Megan has long been a standout player in the sector and wears many different hats. Indeed, her current roles include (but are not limited to): Chair of the Freight and Logistics Council of WA; Non-Executive Director (Chair People & Performance Committee) at Pacific Energy Limited; and Leadership Coach at Pleiades Consulting.

WHAT WAS IT LIKE TO WIN THE INDUSTRY ADVOCACY AWARD? Megan: Okay, so winning was genuinely a surprise, and I wasn’t able to be in Melbourne for the ceremony. Instead, I was actually at another gathering that a friend and I organised called Extraordinary Women here in Perth.

Our team was there [in Melbourne] and texting me photos and everything, and then they texted me this photo of the ‘congratulation screen’, and I just didn’t know – I was just so surprised –it was surreal, and then I told my friend, Anna who organises Waves and then, you know, we got champagne out and so I had my own little celebration.

So, it was amazing. But the thing that I loved about it was that NAWO was there. They had their own table because this really isn’t our award. You know, they nominated me. I really feel that it just means that advocating for gender diversity in operations shows how much of a worthwhile pursuit it is.

WHAT IS YOUR CONNECTION WITH NAWO? Megan: I was the chair for four years.

I’ve been on the board for eight years, and I was the chair for four of those years. I’ve been involved with NAWO since it was pretty small and fledgling – when it was really just a board and now it’s a fully-fledged organisation – 60 something members across the country.

I finished my final term. I did four terms on the board. I finished my final term last year and we had a succession and handover mid last year. I’ve been I’ve been involved with them. You know that they’re a very important part of my life now.

IN YOUR VIEW – WHY ARE WII AWARDS IMPORTANT – PARTICULARLY IN YOUR SECTOR? Megan: Because there are so few women still in these sectors, and because so many of the women that do this work are doing it in addition to their day jobs – outside their normal work hours. We can see the work that’s being done because young women – and not just young women – any women and young men can see that it’s been done. It’s amazing how many women still don’t go into rooms where they are full of women in their sector, so that’s really important.

And then the other thing is simply recognising all of the women that do this, usually in addition to their day jobs, you know, they’re working in and you know, that’s a lot of other people who they’re not having to check, you know, try and bring change about and, and smooth the pathway for a whole sector of the community and do their job.

BRIEFLY – HOW DID YOU GET YOUR START IN THE INDUSTRY? Megan: Quite accidentally, in a way. I come from a rural background anyway.

Megan McKracken, winner of the Industry Advocacy Award.

I turned up at uni on the first day not knowing anything about uni. I was the first in my family to go to uni, and I turned up and I picked out a subject called Industrial Relations, and I picked it because I had no idea what it was and I ended up working in industrial relations in the iron ore industry in Western Australia and found myself working for an amazing boss; a really strong team that probably is still the best team I’ve ever worked for. My introduction to the sector was superbly positive, and I’ve been there ever since.

I like working with businesses that make and do things.

WHAT WORDS OF ADVICE WOULD YOU HAVE FOR A YOUNG WOMAN STARTING OUT IN THIS SECTOR? Megan: But you know, in terms of the sector, to be honest, my advice for women is probably the same, whichever roles they’re going into. And the thing that I see looking back is knowing who you are, knowing yourself, enough that you can be yourself. You are thinking about the crossover between what you MHD JUNE 2022 | 57

MHD WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS

love, what you’re good at what or what you want to be good at, and what your sector needs and finding something that really matches that between you and them because if you know yourself, you know what you can say “yes” to and “no” to.

You go in saying, “I’ve got to fit in here,” then that means that you’re

E

going to change yourself to fit here and that’s not going to go well. And you might do things or be in situations that you find yourself that you don’t want to be in, so I can’t promise everyone a cure all for that.

The other one is building long-term relationships: people who genuinely support you, and non-judgmentally

support you. Mentor others as soon as you can and then don’t stop learning.

Don’t think you know everything.

You just got to keep knowing, keep improving, and pretty much, I’d say that for anyone. I think knowing yourself and knowing what you will say “yes” and “no” to is just supremely important.

DR BRONWYN EVANS WINS TWO AWARDS AT PRESENTATION EVENING

ngineers Australia CEO Dr Bronwyn Evans AM has been honoured with the Woman of the Year and Excellence in Engineering awards at this year’s Women in Industry Awards.

The event, hosted by Prime Creative Media, celebrated outstanding women from the industrials sector – those who work in mining, road transport, manufacturing, engineering, logistics, bulk handling, waste management, rail, and infrastructure.

Dr Evans was acknowledged as an outstanding engineer and trailblazer in her field.

The first woman to be CEO at Engineers Australia, Dr Evans was previously the first female CEO of Standards Australia, where she was instrumental in improving the standards development process and was elected to a global role on the ISO’s governing President’s Committee.

Dr Evans expressed her excitement regarding the awards, adding that being presented with two was a thrill.

“These awards have been able to shine a light on how many amazing women are in such a broad range of industries and then to be singled out as the Woman of the Year was quite amazing,” Bronwyn says.

Commenting on her career, Dr Evans said that she has always thought of 58 | MHD JUNE 2022

engineering as a worthwhile career to grow into, but that there was still a way to go to make the career accessible for everyone.

“We’ve been looking at how we coordinate across groups to really amplify everyone’s efforts; there’s so many great initiatives out there looking at enticing kids, particularly girls, into science, technology, engineering and maths,” Bronwyn says.

Dr Evans is highly involved with these programs, running workshops for Year 11 and 12 students along with teaching university-level engineering students.

When accepting the award, Dr Evans said there was still much work to do to increase the number of women in industry.

She is also involved in helping teachers structure their curriculums so they can start at the fundamentals and grow their encouragement with their students.

“Nights like tonight are important so we can celebrate our successes.

However, we still need to have difficult conversations about education, bias, assumptions and missed opportunities for women in industry,” she says.

“We know we will have succeeded when women are represented 50 per cent top to bottom. I urge all of us here tonight to use our profiles and our influence to be role models and to be champions for the amazing

Dr Bronwyn Evans (left), recipient of the Woman of the Year and Excellence in Engineering awards. women who are joining our industries and professions.”

Commenting on the current state of gender diversity in Australian engineering and manufacturing, Dr Evans expressed her sadness that the industry was missing out on some great female minds.

“We’ve got to change some of the representation of what our industry is, what we do, how we contribute and then

MHD WOMEN IN INDUSTRY AWARDS

we have to look at retraining people and giving people insight on the sorts of careers that are available.”

Category sponsor BAE Systems said they were particularly proud to sponsor the Engineering Excellence category in 2021.

“We have female engineers to thank for many of the world’s greatest innovations, yet they make

up only 12 per cent of engineers employed in Australia. Awards such as these are important to not only celebrate achievement, but to also provide inspiration to others to break down barriers and excel in the engineering industry.”

Dr Evans has held a plethora of non-executive positions, many on a volunteer basis, in Industry 4.0, STEM,

industry-academia connections, construction and innovation.

She is a Chartered engineer and Honorary Fellow of Engineers Australia.

In 2021, she was awarded an honorary doctorate by Swinburne University and appointed as a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia for significant service to engineering, to standards and to medical technology.

IMPORTANT FOR WOMEN TO RISE THROUGH RAIL RANKS Women in Industry award winner Catherine Baxter says running Metro Trains Melbourne is more than just “ticking boxes”.

M

etro Trains Melbourne’s Chief Operating Officer, Catherine Baxter, recently won the Women in Industry Award for Excellence in Transport.

The awards are presented by Rail Express, together with sister publications Australian Mining, PACE, Manufacturers’ Monthly, MHD Supply Chain Solutions, Prime Mover, Trailer, Waste Management Review, Roads & Infrastructure Australia, and Australian Bulk Handling Review, to acknowledge the exceptional women who have achieved success through their invaluable leadership, innovation, and commitment to their respective fields.

Catherine received the honour at a special awards ceremony in Melbourne, which included finalists from across the mining, engineering, transport, logistics and infrastructure sectors.

The Excellence in Transport award recognises an individual who has gone above and beyond to improve and positively impact the Australian transport industry.

“I’m enormously grateful to win this award. It’s especially important to me because these awards are decided by my peers. It’s judged for

women in industry, by women in industry,” Catherine says.

Catherine has been working in the rail industry for more than three decades.

When she first joined Queensland Rail in the 1980s, it was a maledominated industry. Despite this, she pushed forward, making a name for herself quickly, and leading the charge to bring more women on board.

“It’s essential that women not only join the rail industry but rise through the ranks. I take this role very seriously and if I can inspire other women to join the rewarding world of rail, then I know I’m doing my part to set us up for a bright future,” she says.

Now, having brought her talents to Melbourne, she oversees the safe running of Metro’s network, and the delivery of nationally recognised rail safety training.

“I’m very proud that every day Metro continues to better reflect the values of the community we serve.

That means ensuring women are working at all levels, in all types of roles. I can assure you that we’re not just ticking boxes,” she says.

“Bringing more women into Metro improves both our business and the city of Melbourne. Hiring new people

Catherine Baxter, winner of the Women in Industry Award for Excellence in Transport.

from diverse parts of the Victorian community, who previously didn’t have a seat at the table, means more women have an opportunity to develop a career in our industry than ever before.” ■ MHD JUNE 2022 | 59

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MHD PRODUCT SHOWCASE

TOYOTA LEVIO LWI160 ELECTRIC PALLET JACK

O2I – MULTICODE READER

The Toyota Levio LWI160 Electric Pallet Jack features a lithiumion battery, meaning it can be charged whenever there is downtime, unlike traditional lead acid batteries which require an eight-hour charge. The LWI160 is Toyota’s first pallet mover solely designed around the modular lithium-ion battery concept – allowing for a smaller, lighter, and more energy efficient unit.

Its compact nature helps the LWI160 gain better access in tight areas. In some circumstances it may be the only option available when being used in tight spaces on the back of trucks. Able to lift 1600kg up to 210mm in an aisle with of 1837mm, the LWI160 is easy and safe to operate.

ifm’s O2I500 multicode reader is simple to use like a sensor, and reliably detects 1D and 2D codes. It delivers reliable reading results even in extremely difficult conditions, reading up to four different codes in milliseconds, which ensures efficient, and high-quality production.

Thanks to the one-button teach function and the viewfinder, it makes the product immediately ready for use, saving time and costs. In addition to this, the O2I500 can be configured via an app or using the award-winning Vision Assistant software. The device has an exchangeable ifm memory stick, which can be used to save or load complete configurations of the multicode reader. This simplifies device replacement and the set-up of several units for the same application. The integrated optional illumination with polarisation filter, ensures sufficient contrasts to reliably detect codes even in the case of shiny surfaces such as metal. The ifm O2I500 multicode reader combines robustness, compelling design, and intuitive handling.

For more information visit www.toyotamaterialhandling.com.au

For more information visit https://www.ifm.com/au/en

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MHD JUNE 2022 | 61

MHD PEOPLE ON THE MOVE

BROUGHT TO YOU BY

PEOPLE ON THE MOVE A monthly wrap up of the latest appointments in the supply chain, materials handling and logistics industry.

KEVIN XU Kevin has recently joined CBRE as Head of Supply Chain Analytics. With 18 years of supply chain industry experience spanning shipping, 3PL, consulting, telco and commercial real estate, Kevin will lead CBRE’s effort in the adaption of advanced data analytics technology in supply chain advisory and anchor its supply chain practice in the NSW industrial property market.

HAYDEN DICK Colliers has appointed Hayden Dick as Senior Executive in the Western Australia Colliers business. Hayden is a crucial member of the Colliers Team and will work to maximise local opportunities and deliver successful results for our clients in the Industrial sector. He joins from the Colliers WA partner office where he forged a strong reputation.

SHONA WALLACE Linfox has appointed Shona Wallace as its Group Manager Enterprise Project Management Office (PMO) in Linfox’s Analytics Design Information Technology (ADIT) team. Shona has worked with Linfox for almost nine years, previously as a Commercial Manager and Logistics Development Manager. She has more than 20 years’ supply chain and logistics experience.

SEAN THOMSON In addition to his role as the Director of Industrial Capital Markets | Australia for Colliers, Sean has been promoted to Head of Industrial Capital Markets | NSW. Sean has been instrumental in the growth of the National Capital Markets business, leveraging his close relationships with Institutional clients and using his key market insights to become an industry leader.

IAN STRACHAN Linfox has appointed Ian Strachan as its Chief Executive Officer of Linfox International Group (LIG), based in Asia. Ian is also a member of LIG’s board of directors. Previously, Ian was responsible for Linfox’s Intermodal operations across Australia as President Intermodal, overseeing the provision of interstate transport by road, rail, and sea.

RICK FIEDLER Supply chain visibility provider project44 has appointed Rick Fiedler as Field Marketing Manager for Australia & New Zealand. The appointment is the latest in a series of new hires as the company expands its advanced visibility platform offering across the Asia Pacific. Based in the firm’s recently established Melbourne office, Rick will be a key member of the growth team.

GRACE ZANGARI Grace has recently moved to CBRE to join the Industrial & Logistics Occupier team as Director of Business Development, providing transactional guidance on leasing transactions key occupiers. Grace has over 10 years’ experience in the real estate sector with a strong focus on new business development and leasing transactions.

Do you have career news to share? Email Edward Cranswick at Edward.Cranswick@primecreative.com.au to be featured.

62 | MHD JUNE 2022

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